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A    CHRISTMAS    CAROL. 


IN    PROSE. 


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IN    PROSE. 


^  6if|O0t  Storg  of  (l^risttnas. 


CHARLES    DICKENS. 


WITH     ILLUSTRATIONS    BY    JOHN     LEECH. 


LONDON:  i 

CHAPMAN    &   HALL,   186,   STRAND, 


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LONDON  : 
liRADnilRV   AND    KVANS,    PRIVTKBS,    WHITRKftrAHS. 


PREFACE. 

I  HAVE  endeavoured  in  this  Ghostly  little 
book,  to  raise  the  Ghost  of  an  Idea,  which  shall  not 
put  my  readers  out  of  humour  with  themselves, 
with  each  other,  with  the  season,  or  with  me.  May 
it  haunt  their  houses  pleasantly,  and  no  one  wish 
to  lay  it. 

Their  faithful  Friend  and  Servant, 

C.  D. 

December,  1843. 


CONTENTS. 

STAVE  I. 

PAOF 

MARLEY'S  GHOST 1 

STAVE  II. 
THE  FIRST   OF  THE   THREE   SPIRITS       .        .        .    .    39 

STAVE   III. 
THE  SECOND   OF   THE   THREE   SPIRITS       ...    74 

STAVE   IV. 
THE  LAST  OF   THE   SPIRITS 121 

STAVE  V. 
THE   END   OF  IT 152 


A    CHRISTMAS    CAROL. 


STAVE  ONE. 


MARLEY'S    GHOST. 

Marley  was  dead :  to  begin  with.  There  is  no 
doubt  whatever  about  that.  The  register  of  his 
burial  was  signed  by  the  clergyman,  the  clerk,  the 
undertaker,  and  the  chief  mourner.  Scrooge  signed 
it :  and  Scrooge's  name  was  good  upon  'Change,  for 
anything  he  chose  to  put  his  hand  to.  Old  Marley 
was  as  dead  as  a  door-nail. 

Mind  !  I  don't  mean  to  say  that  I  know,  of  my 
own  knowledge,  what  there  is  particularly  dead 
about  a  door-nail.  I  might  have  been  inclined, 
myself,  to  regard  a  coffin -nail  as  the  deadest  piece 
of  ironmongery  in  the  trade.  But  the  wisdom  of 
our  ancestors  is  in  the  simile ;  and  my  unhallowed 


2  A    CHRISTMAS    CAROL. 

hands  shall  not  disturb  it,  or  the  Country 's  done  for. 
You  will  therefore  permit  me  to  repeat,  emphati- 
cally, that  Marley  was  as  dead  as  a  door- nail. 

Scrooge  know  he  was  dead  ?  Of  course  he  did. 
How  could  it  be  otherwise  ?  Scrooge  and  he  were 
partners  for  I  don't  know  how  many  years.  Scrooge 
was  his  solo  executor,  his  sole  administrator,  his 
sole  assign,  his  sole  residuary  legatee,  his  sole 
friend,  and  sole  mourner.  And  even  Scrooge  was 
not  so  dreadfully  cut  up  by  the  sad  event,  but  that 
lie  was  an  excellent  man  of  business  on  the  very  day 
of  the  funeral,  and  solemnised  it  with  an  undoubted 
bargain. 

The  mention  of  Marley's  funeral  brings  me  back 
to  the  point  I  started  from.  There  is  no  doubt 
that  Marley  was  dead.  This  must  be  distinctly 
understood,  or  nothing  wonderful  can  come  of  the 
story  I  am  going  to  relate.  If  we  were  not  per- 
fectly convinced  that  Hamlet's  Father  died  before 
the  play  began,  there  would  be  nothing  more  re- 
markable in  his  taking  a  stroll  at  night,  in  an 
easterly   wind,  upon  his  own  ramparts,  than  there 


MARLEY  S    GHOST.  3 

would  be  in  any  other  middle-aged  gentleman  rashly 
turning  out  after  dark  in  a  breezy  spot — say  Saint 
Paul's  Churchyard  for  instance — literally  to  astonish 
his  son's  weak  mind. 

Scrooge  never  painted  out  Old  Marley's  name. 
There  it  stood,  years  afterwards,  above  the  ware- 
house door :  Scrooge  and  Marley.  The  firm  was 
known  as  Scrooge  and  Marley.  Sometimes  people 
new  to  the  business  called  Scrooge  Scrooge,  and 
sometimes  Marley,  but  he  answered  to  both  names. 
It  was  all  the  same  to  him. 

Oh  I  But  he  was  a  tight-fisted  hand  at  the 
grindstone,  Scrooge !  a  squeezing,  wrenching,  grasp- 
ing, scraping,  clutching,  covetous  old  sinner  !  Hard 
and  sharp  as  flint,  from  which  no  steel  had  ever 
struck  out  generous  fire ;  secret,  and  self-contained, 
and  solitary  as  an  oyster.  The  cold  within  him 
froze  his  old  features,  nipped  his  pointed  nose, 
shrivelled  his  cheek,  stiffened  his  gait ;  made  his 
eyes  red,  his  thin  lips  blue  ;  and  spoke  out  shrewdly 
in  his  grating  voice.      A  frosty  rime  was   on  his 

head,  and  on  his  eyebrows,  and  his  wiry  chin.     He 

b2 


4  A    CIinrSTMAS    CAROL. 

carried  his  own  low  temperature  always  about  with 
hira ;  he  iced  his  office  in  the  dog-days ;  and  didn't 
thaw  it  one  degree  at  Christmas. 

External  heat  and  cold  had  little  influence  on 
Scrooge.  No  warmth  could  warm,  nor  wintry 
weather  chill  him.  No  wind  that  blew  was  bitterer 
than  he,  no  falling  snow  was  more  intent  upon  its 
purpose,  no  pelting  rain  less  open  to  entreaty.  Foul 
weather  didn't  know  where  to  have  him.  The 
heaviest  rain,  and  snow%  and  hail,  and  sleet,  could 
boast  of  the  advantage  over  him  in  only  one  respect. 
They  often  "  came  down"  handsomely,  and  Scrooge 
never  did. 

Nobody  ever  stopped  him  in  the  street  to  say, 
with  gladsome  looks,  "  My  dear  Scrooge,  how  are 
you  ?  when  will  you  come  to  see  me?  "  No  beggars 
implored  him  to  bestow  a  trifle,  no  children  asked 
him  what  it  was  o'clock,  no  man  or  woman  ever 
once  in  all  his  life  inquired  the  way  to  such  and 
such  a  place,  of  Scrooge.  Even  the  blindmen's  dogs 
appeared  to  know  him ;  and  when  they  saw  him 
coming  on,  would  tug  their  owners  into  doorways 


MARLEYS    GHOST.  5 

and  up  courts ;  and  then  would  wag  their  tails  as 
though  they  said,  "  no  eye  at  all  is  better  than  an 
evil  eye,  dark  master  !  " 

But  what  did  Scrooge  care !  It  was  the  very 
thing  he  liked.  To  edge  his  way  along  the  crowded 
paths  of  life,  warning  all  human  sympathy  to  keep 
its  distance,  was  what  the  knowing  ones  call 
"nuts"  to  Scrooge. 

Once  upon  a  time — of  all  the  good  days  in  the 
year,  on  Christmas  Eve — old  Scrooge  sat  busy  in 
his  counting-house.  It  was  cold,  bleak,  biting 
weather :  foggy  withal :  and  he  could  hear  the 
people  in  the  court  outside  go  wheezing  up  and 
down,  beating  their  hands  upon  their  breasts,  and 
stamping  their  feet  upon  the  pavement-stones  to 
warm  them.  The  city  clocks  had  only  just  gone 
three,  but  it  was  quite  dark  already :  it  had  not 
been  light  all  day  :  and  candles  were  flaring  in  the 
windows  of  the  neighbouring  offices,  like  ruddy 
smears  upon  the  palpable  brown  air.  The  fog  came 
pouring  in  at  every  chink  and  keyhole,  and  was  so 
dense  without,  that  although  the  court  was  of  the 


6  A    CHRISTMAS    CAROL. 

narrowest,  the  houses  opposite  were  mere  pliantoms. 
To  see  the  Jingy  cloud  come  drooping  down,  ob- 
scuring everything,  one  might  have  thought  that 
Nature  lived  hard  by,  and  was  brewing  on  a  large 
scale. 

The  door  of  Scrooge's  counting-house  was  open 
that  he  might  keep  his  eye  upon  his  clerk,  who 
in  a  dismal  little  cell  beyond,  a  sort  of  tank,  was 
copying  letters.  Scrooge  had  a  very  small  fire, 
but  the  clerk's  fire  was  so  very  much  smaller  that 
it  looked  like  one  coal.  But  he  couldn't  replenish 
it,  for  Scrooge  kept  the  coal-box  in  his  own  room ; 
and  so  surely  as  the  clerk  came  in  with  the  shovel, 
the  master  predicted  that  it  would  be  necessary 
for  them  to  part.  Wherefore  the  clerk  put  on  his 
white  comforter,  and  tried  to  warm  himself  at  the 
candle ;  in  which  effort,  not  being  a  man  of  a 
strong  imagination,  he  failed. 

"  A  merry  Christmas,  uncle  !  God  save  you  !  " 
cried  a  cheerful  voice.  It  was  the  voice  of  Scrooge's 
nephew,  who  came  upon  him  so  quickly  that  this 
was  the  first  intimation  he  had  of  his  approach. 


marley's  ghost.  7 

"  Bah  !  "  said  Scrooge,  "  Humbug  !  " 

He  had  so  heated  himself  with  rapid  walking 
in  the  fog  and  frost,  this  nephew  of  Scrooge's,  that 
he  was  all  in  a  glow  ;  his  face  was  ruddy  and 
handsome  ;  his  eyes  sparkled,  and  his  breath  smoked 
again. 

"  Christmas  a  humbug,  uncle  ! "  said  Scrooge's 
nephew.     "  You  don't  mean  that,  I  am  sure." 

"  I  do,"  said  Scrooge.  "  Merry  Christmas  ! 
what  right  have  you  to  be  merry  ?  what  reason 
have  you  to  be  merry  ?     You're  poor  enough." 

"  Come,  then,"  returned  the  nephew  gaily.  "  What 
right  have  you  to  be  dismal  ?  what  reason  have 
you  to  be  morose  ?    You're  rich  enough." 

Scrooge  having  no  better  answer  ready  on  the 
spur  of  the  moment,  said,  "  Bah  !"  again ;  and 
followed  it  up  with  "  Humbug." 

"  Don't  be  cross,  uncle,"  said  the  nephew. 

"  What  else  can  I  be "  returned  the  uncle, 
"  when  I  live  in  such  a  world  of  fools  as  this  ? 
Merry  Christmas !  Out  upon  merry  Christmas  ! 
What's  Christmas  time  to  you  but  a  time  for  pay- 


b  A    CHRISTMAS    CAROL. 

ing  bills  without  money  ;  a  time  for  finding  yourself 
a  year  older,  and  not  an  hour  richer;  a  time  for 
balancing  your  books  and  having  every  item  in  'em 
through  a  round  dozen  of  months  presented  dead 
against  you  ?  If  I  could  work  my  will,"  said 
Scrooge,  indignantly,  "  every  idiot  who  goes  about 
with  '  Merry  Christmas,'  on  his  lips,  should  be  boiled 
with  his  own  pudding,  and  buried  with  a  stake 
of  holly  through  his  heart.     He  should  !  " 

"  Uncle  !  "  pleaded  the  nephew. 

"  Nephew  !  "  returned  the  uncle,  sternly,  "  keep 
Christmas  in  your  own  way,  and  let  me  keep  it  in 
mine." 

"  Keep  it !  "  repeated  Scrooge's  nephew.  "  But 
you  don't  keep  it." 

"  Let  me  leave  it  alone,  then,"  said  Scrooge. 
"  Much  good  may  it  do  you !  Much  good  it  has 
ever  done  you  !  " 

"  There  are  many  things  from  which  I  might  have 
derived  good,  by  which  I  have  not  profited,  I  dare 
say,"  returned  the  nephew  :  "  Christmas  among  the 
rest.    But  I  am  sure  I  have  always  thought  of  Christ- 


MARLEY  S    GHOST.  9 

mas  time,  when  it  has  come  round — apart  from  the 
veneration  due  to  its  sacred  name  and  origin,  if 
anything  belonging  to  it  can  be  apart  from  that — as 
a  good  time  :  a  kind,  forgiving,  charitable,  pleasant 
time  :  the  only  time  I  know  of,  in  the  long  calendar 
of  the  year,  when  men  and  women  seem  by  one 
consent  to  open  their  shut-up  hearts  freely,  and  to 
think  of  people  below  them  as  if  they  really  were 
fellow-passengers  to  the  grave,  and  not  another  race 
of  creatures  bound  on  other  journeys.  And  therefore, 
uncle,  though  it  has  never  put  a  scrap  of  gold  or  sil- 
ver in  my  pocket,  I  believe  that  it  has  done  me  good, 
and  will  do  me  good  ;  and  I  say,  God  bless  it !  " 

The  clerk  in  the  tank  involuntarily  applauded : 
becoming  immediately  sensible  of  the  impropriety, 
he  poked  the  fire,  and  extinguished  the  last  frail 
spark  for  ever. 

"  Let  me  hear  another  sound  from  you "  said 
Scrooge,  "  and  you  '11  keep  your  Christmas  by  losing 
your  situation.  You're  quite  a  powerful  speaker, 
sir,"  he  added,  turning  to  his  nephew.  "  I  wonder 
you  don't  go  into  Parliament." 


10  A    CHRISTMAS    CAROL. 

"  Don't  be  angry,  uncle.  Come  !  Dine  with  us 
to-morrow." 

Scrooge  said  that  he  would  see  him— yes,  indeed 
he  did.  He  went  the  whole  length  of  the  ex- 
pression, and  said  that  he  would  see  him  in  that 
extremity  first. 

"  But  why  ?"  cried  Scrooge's  nephew.     "  Why  ?" 
"  Why  did  you  get  married  ?"  said  Scrooge. 
"  Because  I  fell  in  love." 

"  Because  you  fell  in  love  !"  growled  Scrooge,  as 
if  that  were  the  only  one  thing  in  the  world  more 
ridiculous  than  a  merry  Christmas.  "  Good  after- 
noon !" 

"  Nay,  uncle,  but  you  never  came  to  see  me  before 
that  happened.  Why  give  it  as  a  reason  for  not 
coming  now  ?" 

"  Good  afternoon,"  said  Scrooge. 
"  I  want  nothing   from   you ;  I  ask  nothing  of 
you  ;  why  cannot  we  be  friends  ?" 
"  Good  afternoon,"  said  Scrooge. 
"  I  am  sorry,  with  all  my  heart,  to  find  you  so 
resolute.    We  have  never  had  any  quarrel,  to  which 


marley's  ghost.  11 

I  have  been  a  party.  But  I  have  made  the  trial  in 
homage  to  Christmas,  and  I  '11  keep  my  Christmas 
humour  to  the  last.  So  A  Merry  Christmas, 
uncle!" 

"  Good  afternoon  I"  said  Scrooge. 

"  And  A  Happy  New  Year  !" 

"  Good  afternoon  !"  said  Scrooge. 

His  nephew  left  the  room  without  an  angry  word, 
notwithstanding.  He  stopped  at  the  outer  door  to 
bestow  the  greetings  of  the  season  on  the  clerk,  who, 
cold  as  he  was,  was  warmer  than  Scrooge ;  for  he 
returned  them  cordially. 

"There's  another  fellow,"  muttered  Scrooge;  who 
overheard  him :  "  my  clerk,  with  fifteen  shillings 
a- week,  and  a  wife  and  family,  talking  about  a  merry 
Christmas.    I  '11  retire  to  Bedlam." 

This  lunatic,  in  letting  Scrooge's  nephew  out,  had 
let  two  other  people  in.  They  were  portly  gentle- 
men, pleasant  to  behold,  and  now  stood,  with  their 
hats  oflF,  in  Scrooge's  office.  They  had  books  and 
papers  in  their  hands,  and  bowed  to  him. 

"  Scrooge  and  Marley's,  I  believe,"  said  one  of  the 


12  A    CHRISTMAS    CAROL. 

gentlemen,  referring  to  his  list.  "  Have  I  the  pleasure 
of  addressing  Mr.  Scrooge,  or  Mr.  Marloy  ?" 

"  Mr.  Marley  has  been  dead  these  seven  years," 
Scrooge  replied.  "He  died  seven  years  ago,  this 
very  night." 

"  We  have  no  doubt  his  liberality  is  well  repre- 
sented by  his  surviving  partner,"  said  the  gentleman, 
presenting  his  credentials. 

It  certainly  was ;  for  they  had  been  two  kindred 
spirits.  At  the  ominous  word  "  liberality,"  Scrooge 
frowned,  and  shook  his  head,  and  handed  the 
credentials  back. 

"  At  this  festive  season  of  the  year,  Mr.  Scrooge," 
said  the  gentleman,  taking  up  a  pen,  "  it  is  more 
than  usually  desirable  that  we  should  make  some 
slight  provision  for  the  Poor  and  destitute,  who 
suffer  greatly  at  the  present  time.  Many  thousands 
arc  in  want  of  common  necessaries ;  hundreds  of 
thousands  are  in  want  of  common  comforts,  sir." 

"  Are  there  no  prisons  V  asked  Scrooge. 

"  Plenty  of  prisons,"  said  the  gentleman,  laying 
down  the  pen  again. 


marley's  ghost.  13 

"And  the  Union  workhouses?"  demanded  Scrooge. 
"  Are  they  still  in  operation?" 

"  They  are.  Still,"  returned  the  gentleman,  "  I 
wish  I  could  say  tliey  were  not." 

"  The  Treadmill  and  the  Poor  Law  are  in  full 
vigour,  then  ?"   said  Scrooge. 

"  Both  very  busy,  sir." 

"  Oh  !  I  was  afraid,  from  what  you  said  at  first, 
that  something  had  occurred  to  stop  them  in  their 
useful  course,"  said  Scrooge.  "  I  'm  very  glad  to 
hear  it." 

"  Under  the  impression  that  they  scarcely  furnish 
Christian  cheer  of  mind  or  body  to  the  multitude," 
returned  the  gentleman,  "  a  few  of  us  are  endeavour- 
ing to  raise  a  fund  to  buy  the  Poor  some  meat  and 
drink,  and  means  of  warmth.  We  choose  this  time, 
because  it  is  a  time,  of  all  others,  when  Want  is 
keenly  felt,  and  Abundance  rejoices.  What  shall  I 
put  you  down  for  ?" 

"  Nothing  1"  Scrooge  replied. 

"  You  wish  to  be  anonymous  ?" 

"  I  wish  to  be  left  alone,"  said  Scrooge.     "  Since 


14  A    CHRISTMAS    CAROL. 

you  ask  me  wliat  I  wish,  gentlemen,  that  is  my 
answer.  I  don't  make  merry  myself  at  Christmas, 
and  I  can't  afford  to  make  idle  people  merry.  I 
help  to  support  the  establishments  I  have  men- 
tioned :  they  cost  enough :  and  those  who  are 
badly  off  must  go  there." 

"  Many  can't  go  there ;  and  many  would  rather 
die." 

"  If  they  would  rather  die,"  said  Scrooge,  "  they 
had  better  do  it,  and  decrease  the  surplus  population. 
Besides — excuse  me — I  don't  know  that." 

"  But  you  might  know  it,"  observed  the  gentleman. 

"  It 's  not  my  business,"  Scrooge  returned.  " It's 
enough  for  a  man  to  understand  his  own  business, 
and  not  to  interfere  with  other  people's.  Mine 
occupies  me  constantly.  Good  afternoon,  gentle- 
men !" 

Seeing  clearly  that  it  would  be  useless  to  pursue 
their  point,  the  gentlemen  withdrew.  Scrooge  re- 
sumed his  labours  with  an  improved  opinion  of 
himself,  and  in  a  more  facetious  temper  than  was 
usual  with  him. 


marley's  ghost.  15 

Meanwhile  the  fog  and  darkness  thickened  so,  that 
people  ran  about  with  flaring  links,  proffering  their 
services  to  go  before  horses  in  carriages,  and  conduct 
them  on  their  way.  The  ancient  tower  of  a  church, 
whose  gruff  old  bell  was  always  peeping  slily  down 
at  Scrooge  out  of  a  gothic  window  in  the  wall,  be- 
came invisible,  and  struck  the  hours  and  quarters  in 
the  clouds,  witli  tremulous  vibrations  afterwards,  as 
if  its  teeth  were  chattering  in  its  frozen  head  up  there. 
The  cold  became  intense.  In  the  main  street,  at  the 
corner  of  the  court,  some  labourers  were  repairing 
the  gas-pipes,  and  had  lighted  a  great  fire  in  a 
brazier,  round  which  a  party  of  ragged  men  and  boys 
were  gathered :  warming  their  hands  and  winking 
their  eyes  before  the  blaze  in  rapture.  The  water- 
plug  being  left  in  solitude,  its  overflowings  sullenly 
congealed,  and  turned  to  misanthropic  ice.  The 
brightness  of  the  shops  where  holly  sprigs  and  berries 
crackled  in  the  lamp-heat  of  the  windows,  made 
pale  faces  ruddy  as  they  passed.  Poulterers'  and 
grocers'  trades  became  a  splendid  joke :  a  glorious 
pageant,   with  which   it  was  next  to  impossible  to 


16  A    CHRISTMAS    CAROL. 

believe  that  such  dull  principles  as  bargain  and  sale 
hud  anything  to  do.  The  Lord  Mayor,  in  the  strong- 
hold of  the  mighty  Mansion  House,  gave  orders  to  his 
fifty  cooks  and  butlers  to  keep  Christmas  as  a  Lord 
I\layor's  household  should  ;  and  even  the  little  tailor, 
whom  he  had  fined  five  shillings  on  the  previous 
Monday  for  being  drunk  and  blood-thirsty  in  the 
streets,  stirred  up  to-morrow's  pudding  in  his  garret, 
while  his  lean  wife  and  the  baby  sallied  out  to  buy 
the  beef. 

Foggier  yet,  and  colder  !  Piercing,  searching,  bit- 
ing cold.  If  the  good  Saint  Dunstan  had  but  nipped 
the  Evil  Spirit's  nose  with  a  touch  of  such  weather 
as  that,  instead  of  using  his  familiar  weapons,  then 
indeed  he  would  have  roared  to  lusty  purpose.  The 
owner  of  one  scant  young  nose,  gnawed  and  mum- 
bled by  the  hungry  cold  as  bones  are  gnawed  by 
dogs,  stooped  down  at  Scrooge's  keyhole  to  regale  him 
with   a  Christmas  carol  :  but  at  the  first  sound  of 

"  God  bless  you  mcrrv  gentleman  ! 
May  nothing  you  dismay  !  " 

Scrooge  seized  the  ruler  with  such  energy  of  action, 


marley"'s  ghost.  17 

that  the  singer  fled  in  terror,  leaving  the  keyhole  to 
the  fog  and  even  more  congenial  frost. 

At  length  the  hour  of  shutting  up  the  counting- 
house  arrived.  With  an  ill-will  Scrooge  dismounted 
from  his  stool,  and  tacitly  admitted  the  fact  to  the 
expectant  clerk  in  the  Tank,  who  instantly  snuffed 
his  candle  out,  and  put  on  his  hat. 

"  You  '11  want  all  day  to-morrow,  I  suppose  ? ' 
said  Scrooge. 

"  If  quite  convenient.  Sir." 

"  It's  not  convenient,"  said  Scrooge,  "and  it's 
not  fair.  If  I  was  to  stop  half-a-crown  for  it,  you'd 
think  yourself  ill  used,  I'll  be  bound  ?  " 

The  clerk  smiled  faintly. 

"  And  yet,"  said  Scrooge,  "  you  don't  think  me 
ill-used,  when  I  pay  a  day's  wages  for  no  work." 

The  clerk  observed  that  it  was  only  once  a  year. 

"  A  poor  excuse  for  picking  a  maifs  pocket  every 
twenty-fifth  of  December  !  "  said  Scrooge,  buttoning 
his  great-coat  to  the  chin.  "  But  I  suppose  you 
must  have  the  whole  day.  Be  here  all  the  earlier 
next  morning  !  " 


18  A    CHRISTMAS    CAROL. 

The  clerk  promised  that  he  would ;  and  Scrooge 
walked  out  with  a  growl.  The  office  was  closed  in 
a  twinkling,  and  the  clerk,  with  the  long  ends  of  his 
white  comforter  dangling  below  his  waist  (for  he 
boasted  no  great-coat),  went  down  a  slide  on  Corn- 
hill,  at  the  end  of  a  lane  of  boys,  twenty  times,  in 
honour  of  its  being  Christmas-eve,  and  then  ran 
home  to  Camden  Town  as  hard  as  he  could  pelt,  to 
play  at  blindman's-buff. 

Scrooge  took  his  melancholy  dinner  in  his  usual 
melancholy  tavern ;  and  having  read  all  the  news- 
papers, and  beguiled  the  rest  of  the  evening  with  his 
banker's-book,  went  home  to  bed.  He  lived  in 
chambers  which  had  once  belonged  to  his  deceased 
partner.  They  were  a  gloomy  suite  of  rooms,  in  a 
lowering  pile  of  building  up  a  yard,  where  it  had 
so  little  business  to  be,  that  one  could  scarcely 
help  fancying  it  must  have  run  there  when  it 
was  a  young  house,  playing  at  hide-and-seek  with 
other  houses,  and  have  forgotten  the  way  out  again. 
It  was  old  enough  now,  and  dreary  enough,  for 
nobody  lived  in  it  but  Scrooge,  the  other  rooms  being 


marley's   ghost.  19 

all  let  out  as  offices.  The  yard  was  so  dark  that 
even  Scrooge,  who  knew  its  every  stone,  was  fain  to 
grope  with  his  hands.  The  fog  and  frost  so  hung 
about  the  black  old  gateway  of  the  house,  that  it 
seemed  as  if  the  Genius  of  the  Weather  sat  in 
mournful  meditation  on  the  threshold. 

Now,  it  is  a  fact,  that  there  was  nothing  at  all 
particular  about  the  knocker  on  the  door,  except  that 
it  was  very  large.  It  is  also  a  fact,  that  Scrooge 
had  seen  it  night  and  morning  during  his  whole 
residence  in  that  place ;  also  that  Scrooge  had  as  little 
of  what  is  called  fancy  about  him  as  any  man  in 
the  City  of  London,  even  including — which  is  a  bold 
word — the  corporation,  aldermen,  and  livery.  Let 
it  also  be  borne  in  mind  that  Scrooge  had  not  bestowed 
one  thought  on  Marley,  since  his  last  mention  of  his 
seven-years'  dead  partner  that  afternoon.  And  then 
let  any  man  explain  to  me,  if  he  can,  how  it  happened 
that  Scrooge,  having  his  key  in  the  lock  of  the  door, 
saw  in  the  knocker,  without  its  undergoing  any  in- 
termediate process  of  change :  not  a  knocker,   but 

Marley 's  face. 

c  2 


20  A    CHRISTMAS    CAROL. 

Alarley's  face.  It  was  not  in  impenetrable  shadow 
as  the  other  objects  in  the  yard  were,  but  liad  a 
dismal  light  about  it,  like  a  bad  lobster  in  a  dark 
cellar.  It  was  not  angry  or  ferocious,  but  looked  at 
Scrooge  as  Marley  used  to  look  :  with  ghostly  spec- 
tacles turned  up  upon  its  ghostly  forehead.  The 
hair  was  curiously  stirred,  as  if  by  breath  or  hot-air; 
and  though  the  eyes  were  wide  open,  they  were  per- 
fectly motionless.  That,  and  its  livid  colour,  made  it 
horrible ;  but  its  horror  seemed  to  be,  in  spite  of  the 
face  and  beyond  its  control,  rather  than  a  part  of 
its  own  expression. 

As  Scrooge  looked  fixedly  at  this  phenomenon,  it 
was  a  knocker  again. 

To  say  that  he  was  not  startled,  or  that  his  blood 
was  not  conscious  of  a  terrible  sensation  to  which  it 
had  been  a  stranger  from  infancy,  would  be  untrue. 
But  he  put  his  hand  upon  the  key  he  had  relin- 
quished, turned  it  sturdily,  walked  in,  and  lighted 
his  candle. 

He  did  pause,  with  a  moment's  irresolution,  before 
he  shut  the  door ;  and  he  did  look  cautiously  behind 


marley's  ghost.  21 

it  first,  as  if  he  half-expected  to  be  terrified  with  the 
sight  of  Marley's  pigtail  sticking  out  into  the  hall. 
But  there  was  nothing  on  the  back  of  the  door, 
except  the  screws  and  nuts  that  held  the  knocker  on ; 
so  he  said  "  Pooh,  pooh!"  and  closed  it  with  a  bang. 

The  sound  resounded  through  the  house  like 
thunder.  Every  room  above,  and  every  cask  in  the 
wine-merchant's  cellars  below,  appeared  to  have  a 
separate  peal  of  echoes  of  its  own.  Scrooge  was  not 
a  man  to  be  frightened  by  echoes.  He  fastened  the 
door,  and  walked  across  the  hall,  and  up  the  stairs : 
slowly  too :   trimming  his  candle  as  he  went. 

You  may  talk  vaguely  about  driving  a  coach -and- 
six  up  a  good  old  flight  of  stairs,  or  through  a  bad 
young  Act  of  Parliament ;  but  I  mean  to  say  you 
might  have  got  a  hearse  up  that  staircase,  and  taken 
it  broadwise,  with  the  splinter-bar  towards  the  wall, 
and  the  door  towards  the  balustrades  :  and  done  it 
easy.  There  was  plenty  of  width  for  that,  and  room 
to  spare;  which  is  perhaps  the  reason  why  Scrooge 
thought  he  saw  a  locomotive  hearse  going  on  before 
him  in  the  gloom     Half  a  dozen  gas -lamps  out  of 


22  A    CHRISTMAS    CAUOr.. 

tlio  street  wouldn't  have  lighted  the  entry  too  well, 
80  you  may  suppose  that  it  was  pretty  dark  with 
Scrooge's  dip. 

Up  Scrooge  went,  not  caring  a  button  for  that : 
darkness  is  cheap,  and  Scrooge  liked  it.  But  before 
he  shut  his  heavy  door,  he  walked  through  his 
rooms  to  see  that  all  was  right.  He  had  just  enough 
recollection  of  the  face  to  desire  to  do  that. 

Sitting-room,  bed-room,  lumber-room.  All  as 
they  should  be.  Nobody  under  the  table,  nobody 
under  the  sofa ;  a  small  fire  in  the  grate  ;  spoon  and 
basin  ready ;  and  the  little  saucepan  of  gruel 
(Scrooge  had  a  cold  in  his  head)  upon  the  hob. 
Nobody  under  the  bed ;  nobody  in  the  closet ;  no- 
body in  his  dressing-gown,  which  was  hanging  up 
in  a  suspicious  attitude  against  the  wall.  Lumber- 
room  as  usual.  Old  fire-guard,  old  shoes,  two 
fish-baskets,  washing-stand  on  three  legs,  and  a 
poker. 

Quite  satisfied,  he  closed  his  door,  and  locked 
himself  in  ;  double-locked  himself  in,  which  was  not 
his  custom.     Thus  secured  against  surprise,  he  took 


marley's  ghost.  23 

off  his  cravat ;  put  on  his  dressing-gown  and  slip- 
pers, and  his  night-cap;  and  sat  down  before  the 
fire  to  take  his  gruel. 

It  was  a  very  low  fire  indeed ;  nothing  on  such 
a  bitter  night.  He  was  obliged  to  sit  close  to  it, 
and  brood  over  it,  before  he  could  extract  the  least 
sensation  of  warmth  from  such  a  handful  of  fuel. 
The  fire-place  was  an  old  one,  built  by  some  Dutch 
merchant  long  ago,  and  paved  all  round  with  quaint 
Dutch  tiles,  designed  to  illustrate  the  Scriptures. 
There  were  Cains  and  Abels ;  Pharaoh's  daughters, 
Queens  of  Sheba,  Angelic  messengers  descending 
through  the  air  on  clouds  like  feather-beds,  Abra- 
hams, Belshazzars,  Apostles  putting  off  to  sea  in 
butter-boats,  hundreds  of  figures,  to  attract  his 
thoughts  ;  and  yet  that  face  of  Marley,  seven  years 
dead,  came  like  the  ancient  Prophet's  rod,  and 
swallowed  up  the  whole.  If  each  smooth  tile  had 
been  a  blank  at  first,  with  power  to  shape  some 
picture  on  its  surface  from  the  disjointed  fragments 
of  his  thoughts,  there  would  have  been  a  copy  of 
old  Marley's  head  on  every  one. 


24  A    CHRISTMAS    CAROL. 

"Humbug!"  said  Scrooge;  and  walked  across 
the  room. 

After  several  turns,  he  sat  down  again.  As  he 
threw  his  head  back  in  the  chair,  his  glance  hap- 
pened to  rest  upon  a  bell,  a  disused  bell,  that  hung 
in  the  room,  and  communicated  for  some  purpose 
now  forgotten  with  a  chamber  in  the  highest  story 
of  the  building.  It  was  with  great  astonishment, 
and  with  a  strange,  inexplicable  dread,  that  as  he 
looked,  he  saw  this  bell  begin  to  swing.  It  swung 
so  softly  in  the  outset  that  it  scarcely  made  a  sound  ; 
but  soon  it  rang  out  loudly,  and  so  did  every  bell  in 
the  house. 

This  might  have  lasted  half  a  minute,  or  a  minute, 
but  it  seemed  an  hour.  The  bells  ceased  as  they 
had  begun,  together.  They  were  succeeded  by  a 
clanking  noise,  deep  down  below ;  as  if  some  person 
were  dragging  a  heavy  chain  over  the  casks  in  the 
wine-merchant's  cellar.  Scrooge  then  remembered 
to  have  heard  that  ghosts  in  haunted  houses  were 
described  as  dragging  chains. 

The  cellar-door  flew  open  with  a  booming  sound, 


,_.y^la>^^^J)  S-^c^d^y. 


Londm  C/wfTman,  Jt~  -H11ILIS6,  Strand, 


mauley's  ghost.  25 

and  then  he  heard  the  noise  much  louder,  on  the 
floors  below ;  then  coming  up  the  stairs ;  then 
coming  straight  towards  his  door. 

"It's  humbug  still!"  said  Scrooge.  "I  won't 
believe  it." 

His  colour  changed  though,  when,  without  a 
pause,  it  came  on  through  the  heavy  door,  and 
passed  into  the  room  before  his  eyes.  Upon  its 
coming  in,  the  dying  flame  leaped  up,  as  though  it 
cried  "  I  know  him  !  Marley's  Ghost !"  and  fell  again. 

The  same  face :  the  very  same.  Marley  in  his 
pig-tail,  usual  waistcoat,  tights,  and  boots;  the 
tassels  on  the  latter  bristling,  like  his  pigtail,  and 
his  coat-skirts,  and  the  hair  upon  his  head.  The 
chain  he  drew  was  clasped  about  his  middle.  It 
was  long,  and  wound  about  him  like  a  tail ;  and 
it  was  made  (for  Scrooge  observed  it  closely)  of  cash- 
boxes,  keys,  padlocks,  ledgers,  deeds,  and  heavy 
purses  wrought  in  steel.  His  body  was  transparent : 
so  that  Scrooge,  observing  him,  and  looking  through 
his  waistcoat,  could  see  the  two  buttons  on  his  coat 
behind. 


-ij  A    CIIIUSTMAS    CAROL. 

Scrooge  had  often  heard  it  said  that  Marley  had 
no  bowels,  but  he  had  never  believed  it  until  now. 

No,  nor  did  he  believe  it  even  now.  Though 
he  looked  the  phantom  through  and  through,  and 
saw  it  standing  before  him ;  though  he  felt  the 
chilling  influence  of  its  death -cold  eyes  ;  and  marked 
the  very  texture  of  the  folded  kerchief  bound  about 
its  head  and  chin,  which  wrapper  he  had  not  ob- 
served before ;  he  was  still  incredulous,  and  fought 
against  his  senses. 

"  How  now ! "  said  Scrooge,  caustic  and  cold 
as  ever.     "  What  do  you  want  with  me  ?  " 

"  Much  !  " — IMarley's  voice,  no  doubt  about  it. 

"  Who  are  you  ?  " 

"  Ask  me  who  I  was." 

"  Who  tcere  you  then  ?  "  said  Scrooge,  raising  his 
voice.  "  You  're  particular — for  a  shade."  He  was 
going  to  say  "  to  a  shade,"  but  substituted  this,  as 
more  appropriate. 

"  In  life  I  was  your  partner,  Jacob  Marley." 

"  Can  you — can  you  sit  down  ?  "  asked  Scrooge, 
looking  doubtfully  at  him. 


marley's   ghost.  27 

"  I  can." 

"  Do  it  then." 

Scrooge  asked  the  question,  because  he  didn't 
know  whether  a  ghost  so  transparent  might  find 
himself  in  a  condition  to  take  a  chair ;  and  felt  that 
in  the  event  of  its  being  impossible,  it  might  involve 
the  necessity  of  an  embarrassing  explanation.  But 
the  ghost  sat  down  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  fire- 
place, as  if  he  were  quite  used  to  it. 

"  You  don't  believe  in  me,"  observed  the  Ghost. 

"  I  don't,"  said  Scrooge. 

"  What  evidence  would  you  have  of  my  reality, 
beyond  that  of  your  senses  ?  " 

"  I  don't  know,"  said  Scrooge. 

"  Why  do  you  doubt  your  senses  ?  " 

"  Because,"  said  Scrooge,  "  a  little  thing  afiects 
them.  A  slight  disorder  of  the  stomach  makes  them 
cheats.  You  may  be  an  undigested  bit  of  beef,  a 
blot  of  mustard,  a  crumb  of  cheese,  a  fragment  of 
an  underdone  potato.  There's  more  of  gravy  than 
of  grave  about  you,  whatever  you  are ! " 

Scrooge  was  not  much  in  the  habit  of  cracking 


28  A    CHRISTMAS    CAROr,. 

jokes,  nor  did  he  feel,  in  his  heart,  by  any  means 
waggish  then.  The  truth  is,  that  he  tried  to  be 
smart,  as  a  means  of  distracting  his  own  attention, 
and  keeping  down  his  terror;  for  the  spectre's 
voice  disturbed  the  very  marrow  in  his  bones. 

To  sit,  staring  at  those  fixed,  glazed  eyes,  in 
silence  for  a  moment,  would  play,  Scrooge  felt,  the 
very  deuce  with  him.  There  was  something  very 
awful,  too,  in  the  spectre's  being  provided  with  an 
infernal  atmosphere  of  its  own.  Scrooge  could  not 
feel  it  himself,  but  this  was  clearly  the  case  ;  for 
though  the  Ghost  sat  perfectly  motionless,  its  hair, 
and  skirts,  and  tassels,  were  still  agitated  as  by  the 
hot  vapour  from  an  oven. 

"  You  see  this  toothpick  ?  "  said  Scrooge,  return- 
ing quickly  to  the  charge,  for  the  reason  just 
assigned  ;  and  wishing,  though  it  were  only  for  a 
second,  to  divert  the  vision's  stony  gaze  from  himself. 

"  I  do,"  replied  the  Ghost. 

"  You  are  not  looking  at  it,"  said  Scrooge. 

"But  I  see  it,"  said  the  Ghost,  "notwith- 
standing." 


marley''s  ghost.  29 

"  Well ! "  returned  Scrooge.  "  I  have  but  to 
swallow  this,  and  be  for  the  rest  of  my  days  per- 
secuted by  a  legion  of  goblins,  all  of  my  own 
creation.     Humbug,  I  tell  you  ;  humbug  !  " 

At  this,  the  spirit  raised  a  frightful  cry,  and  shook 
its  chain  with  such  a  dismal  and  appalling  noise, 
that  Scrooge  held  on  tight  to  his  chair,  to  save 
himself  from  falling  in  a  swoon.  But  how  much 
greater  was  his  horror,  when  the  phantom  taking 
off  the  bandage  round  its  head,  as  if  it  were  too 
warm  to  wear  in-doors,  its  lower  jaw  dropped  down 
upon  its  breast ! 

Scrooge  fell  upon  his  knees,  and  clasped  his  hands 
before  his  face. 

"  Mercy  !"  he  said.  "  Dreadful  apparition,  why 
do  you  trouble  me  ?" 

"  Man  of  the  worldly  mind  !"  replied  the  Ghost, 
"  do  you  believe  in  me  or  not  ?" 

"  I  do,"  said  Scrooge.  "  I  must.  But  why  do 
spirits  walk  the  earth,  and  why  do  they  come  to  me  ?" 

"  It  is  required  of  every  man,"  the  Ghost  returned, 
"that  the  spirit  within  him    should  walk    abroad 


30  A    CHRISTMAS    CAROL. 

among  his  fellow-men,  and  travel  far  and  wide ;  and 
if  that  spirit  goes  not  forth  in  life,  it  is  condemned 
to  do  so  after  death.  It  is  doomed  to  wander  through 
the  world — oh,  woe  is  me ! — and  witness  what  it  can- 
not share,  but  might  have  shared  on  earth,  and  turned 
to  happiness !" 

Again  the  spectre  raised  a  cry,  and  shook  its 
chain,  and  wrung  its  shadowy  hands. 

"  You  are  fettered,"  said  Scrooge,  trembling.  "  Tell 
me  why  ?" 

"  I  wear  the  chain  I  forged  in  life,"  replied  the 
Ghost.  "  I  made  it  link  by  link,  and  yard  by  yard; 
I  girded  it  on  of  my  own  free  will,  and  of  my  own 
free  will  I  wore  it.     Is  its  pattern  strange  to  you  ?" 

Scrooge  trembled  more  and  more. 

"  Or  would  you  know,"  pursued  the  Ghost,  "  the 
weight  and  length  of  the  strong  coil  you  bear  your- 
self ?  It  was  full  as  heavy  and  as  long  as  this,  seven 
Christmas  Eves  ago.  You  have  laboured  on  it, 
since.     It  is  a  ponderous  chain  !" 

Scrooge  glanced  about  him  on  the  floor,  in  the 
expectation  of  finding  himself  surrounded  by  some 


MA.RLEYS    GHOST.  31 

fifty  or  sixty  fathoms  of  iron  cable  :  but  he  could  see 
nothing. 

"  Jacob,"  he  said,  imploringly.  "  Old  Jacob 
Marley,  tell  me  more.    Speak  comfort  to  me,  Jacob." 

"  I  have  none  to  give,"  the  Ghost  replied.  "  It 
comes  from  other  regions,  Ebenezer  Scrooge,  and  is 
conveyed  by  other  ministers,  to  other  kinds  of  men. 
Nor  can  I  tell  you  what  I  would.  A  very  little 
more,  is  all  permitted  to  me.  I  cannot  rest,  I  can- 
not stay,  I  cannot  linger  anywhere.  My  spirit 
never  walked  beyond  our  counting-house — mark 
me  ! — in  life  my  spirit  never  roved  beyond  the  narrow 
limits  of  our  money-changing  hole ;  and  weary 
journeys  lie  before  me !" 

It  was  a  habit  with  Scrooge,  whenever  he  became 
thoughtful,  to  put  his  hands  in  his  breeches  pockets. 
Pondering  on  what  the  Ghost  had  said,  he  did  so 
now,  but  without  lifting  up  his  eyes,  or  getting  off 
his  knees. 

"  You  must  have  been  very  slow  about  it,  Jacob," 
Scrooge  observed,  in  a  business-like  manner,  though 
with  humility  and  deference. 


32  A    CHRISTMAS    CAROL. 

"  Slow!"  the  Ghost  repeated. 

"  Seven  years  dead,"  mused  Scrooge.  "  And 
travelling  all  the  time  ?  " 

"  The  whole  time,"  said  the  Ghost.  "  No  rest,  no 
peace.     Incessant  torture  of  remorse." 

"  You  travel  fast?"  said  Scrooge. 

"  On  the  wings  of  the  wind,"  replied  the  Ghost. 

"  You  might  have  got  over  a  great  quantity  of 
ground  in  seven  years,"  said  Scrooge. 

The  Ghost,  on  hearing  this,  set  up  another  cry, 
and  clanked  its  chain  so  hideously  in  the  dead  silence 
of  the  night,  that  the  Ward  would  have  been  justi- 
fied in  indicting  it  for  a  nuisance. 

"  Oh !  captive,  bound,  and  double-ironed,"  cried 
the  phantom,  "  not  to  know,  that  ages  of  incessant 
labour  by  immortal  creatures,  for  this  earth  must 
pass  into  eternity  before  the  good  of  which  it  is  sus- 
ceptible is  all  developed.  Not  to  know  that  any 
Christian  spirit  working  kindly  in  its  little  sphere, 
whatever  it  may  be,  will  find  its  mortal  life  too 
short  for  its  vast  means  of  usefulness.  Not  to  know 
that  no  space  of  regret  can  make  amends  for  one  life's 


MARLEY  S    GHOST.  33 

opportunities    misused  !     Yet  such   was  I !      Oh  ! 
such  was  I ! " 

"  But  you  were  always  a  good  man  of  business, 
Jacob,"  faultered  Scrooge,  who  now  began  to  apply 
this  to  himself. 

"  Business !  "  cried  the  Ghost,  wringing  its  hands 
again.  "  Mankind  was  my  business.  The  common 
welfare  was  my  business ;  charity,  mercy,  forbear- 
ance, and  benevolence,  were,  all,  my  business.  The 
dealings  of  my  trade  were  but  a  drop  of  water  in  the 
comprehensive  ocean  of  my  business ! " 

It  held  up  its  chain  at  arm's  length,  as  if  that  were 
the  cause  of  all  its  unavailing  grief,  and  flung  it 
heavily  upon  the  ground  again. 

"At  this  time  of  the  rolling  year,"  the  spectre 
said,  "  I  suffer  most.  Why  did  I  walk  through 
crowds  of  fellow-beings  with  my  eyes  turned  down, 
and  never  raise  them  to  that  blessed  Star  which  led 
the  Wise  Men  to  a  poor  abode  ?  Were  there  no  poor 
homes  to  which  its  light  would  have  conducted  me!" 
Scrooge  was  very  much  dismayed  to  hear  the 
spectre  going  on  at  this  rate,  and  began  to  quake 
exceedingly. 


34  A    CHRISTMAS    CAROL. 

"  Hear  me !  "  cried  the  Ghost.  "  My  time  is 
nearly  gone." 

"  I  will,"  said  Scrooge.  "  But  don't  be  hard  upon 
me  !     Don't  be  flowery,  Jacob  !     Pray  !  " 

"  How  it  is  that  I  appear  before  you  in  a  shape 
that  you  can  see,  I  may  not  tell.  I  have  sat  in- 
visible beside  you  many  and  many  a  day." 

It  was  not  an  agreeable  idea.  Scrooge  shivered, 
and  wiped  the  perspiration  from  his  brow. 

"  That  is  no  light  part  of  my  penance,"  pursued 
the  Ghost.  "  I  am  here  to-night  to  warn  you,  that 
you  have  yet  a  chance  and  hope  of  escaping  my  fate. 
A  chance  and  hope  of  my  procuring,  Ebenezer." 

"  You  were  always  a  good  friend  to  me,"  said 
Scrooge.     *'  Thank'ee  ! " 

"  You  will  be  haunted,"  resumed  the  Ghost,  "  by 
Three  Spirits." 

Scrooge's  countenance  fell  almost  as  low  as  the 
Ghost's  had  done. 

"  Is  that  the  chance  and  hope  you  mentioned, 
Jacob  ?  "  he  demanded,  in  a  faultering  voice. 

"  It  is." 

"  I — I  think  I'd  rather  not,"  said  Scrooge. 


marley's  ghost.  35 

"Without  their  visits,"  said  the  Ghost,  "you 
cannot  hope  to  shun  the  path  I  tread.  Expect  the 
first  to-morrow,  when  the  bell  tolls  One." 

"  Couldn't  I  take  'em  all  at  once,  and  have  it  over, 
Jacob  ?''  hinted  Scrooge. 

"  Expect  the  second  on  the  next  night  at  the  same 
hour.  The  third  upon  the  next  night  when  the  last 
stroke  of  Twelve  has  ceased  to  vibrate.  Look  to  see 
me  no  more;  and  look  that,  for  your  own  sake, 
you  remember  what  has  passed  between  us  !  " 

When  it  had  said  these  words,  the  spectre  took  its 
wrapper  from  the  table,  and  bound  it  round  its  head, 
as  before.  Scrooge  knew  this,  by  the  smart  soiHid 
its  teeth  made,  when  the  jaws  were  brought  together 
by  the  bandage.  He  ventured  to  raise  his  eyes 
again,  and  found  his  supernatural  visitor  confronting 
him  i-n  an  erect  attitude,  with  its  chain  wound  over 
and  about  its  arm. 

The  apparition  walked  backward  from  him  ;  and 
at  every  step  it  took,  the  window  raised  itself  a  little, 
so  that  when  the  spectre  reached  it,  it  was  wide  open. 
It   beckoned  Scrooge  to  approach,  which    he    did. 

D  2 


36  A    CHRISTMAS    CAROL. 

When  they  were  within  two  paces  of  each  other, 
Marley's  Ghost  held  up  its  hand,  warning  him  to 
come  no  nearer.     Scrooge  stopped. 

Not  so  much  in  obedience,  as  in  surprise  and  fear  : 
for  on  the  raising  of  the  hand,  he  became  sensible  of 
confused  noises  in  the  air ;  incoherent  sounds  of 
lamentation  and  regret ;  wailings  inexpressibly  sor- 
rowful and  self- accusatory.  The  spectre,  after  listen- 
ing for  a  moment,  joined  in  the  mournful  dirge  ;  and 
floated  out  upon  the  bleak,  dark  night. 

Scrooge  followed  to  the  window  :  desperate  in  his 
curiosity.     He  looked  out. 

The  air  was  filled  with  phantoms,  wandering 
hither  and  thither  in  restless  haste,  and  moaning  as 
they  went.  Every  one  of  them  wore  chains  like 
Marley's  Ghost;  some  few  (they  might  be  guilty 
governments)  were  linked  together  ;  none  were  free. 
Many  had  been  personally  known  to  Scrooge  in  their 
lives.  He  had  been  quite  familiar  with  one  old 
ghost,  in  a  white  waistcoat,  with  a  monstrous  iron 
safe  attached  to  its  ancle,  who  cried  piteously  at 
being  unable  to  assist  a  wretched  woman  with   an 


MARLEY  S    GHOST. 


37 


infant,  whom  it  saw  below,  upon  a  door-step.  The 
misery  with  them  all  was,  clearly,  that  they  sought 
to  interfere,  for  good,  in  human  matters,  and  had  lost 
the  power  for  ever. 


~:.V-^-X.r.';W<~.- 


88  A    CHRISTMAS    CAKOL. 

Wliether  these  creatures  faded  into  mist,  or  mist 
enshrouded  them,  he  could  not  tell.  But  they  and 
their  spirit  voices  faded  together;  and  the  night 
became  as  it  had  been  when  he  walked  home. 

Scrooge  closed  the  window,  and  examined  the 
door  by  which  the  Ghost  had  entered.  It  was 
double-locked,  as  he  had  locked  it  with  his  own 
hands,  and  the  bolts  were  undisturbed.  He  tried  to 
say  "  Humbug  !"  but  stopped  at  the  first  syllable. 
And  being,  from  the  emotion  he  had  undergone,  or  the 
fatigues  of  the  day,  or  his  glimpse  of  the  Invisible 
AVorld,  or  the  dull  conversation  of  the  Ghost,  or  the 
lateness  of  the  hour,  much  in  need  of  repose ;  went 
straight  to  bed,  without  undressing,  and  fell  asleep 
upon  the  instant. 


STAVE   TWO. 


THE  FIRST  OF  THE  THREE  SPIRITS. 

"When  Scrooge  awoke,  it  was  so  dark,  that  look- 
ing out  of  bed,  he  could  scarcely  distinguish  the 
transparent  window  from  the  opaque  walls  of  his 
chamber.  He  was  endeavouring  to  pierce  the  dark- 
ness with  his  ferret  eyes,  when  the  chimes  of  a 
neighbouring  church  struck  the  four  quarters.  So 
he  listened  for  the  hour. 

To  his  great  astonishment  the  heavy  bell  went  on 
from  six  to  seven,  and  from  seven  to  eight,  and 
regularly  up  to  twelve ;  then  stopped.  Twelve  ! 
It  was  past  two  when  he  went  to  bed.  The  clock 
was  wrong.  An  icicle  must  have  got  into  the 
works.    Twelve ! 

He  touched  the  spring  of  his  repeater,  to  correct 


40  A    CHRISTMAS    CAROL. 

this  most  preposterous  clock.  Its  rapid  little  pulse 
beat  twelve  ;  and  stopped. 

"  Why,  it  isn't  possible,"  said  Scrooge,  "  that  I 
can  have  slept  through  a  whole  day  and  far  into 
another  night.  It  isn't  possible  that  anything  has 
happened  to  the  sun,  and  this  is  twelve  at  noon  ! " 

Tlie  idea  being  an  alarming  one,  he  scrambled  out 
of  bed,  and  groped  his  way  to  the  window.  He 
was  obliged  to  rub  the  frost  off  with  the  sleeve  of 
his  dressing-gown  before  he  could  see  anything ;  and 
could  see  very  little  then.  All  he  could  make  out 
was,  that  it  was  still  very  foggy  and  extremely  cold, 
and  that  there  was  no  noise  of  people  running  to  and 
fro,  and  making  a  great  stir,  as  there  unquestionably 
would  have  been  if  night  had  beaten  off  bright  day, 
and  taken  possession  of  the  world.  This  was  a 
great  relief,  because  "  three  days  after  sight  of  this 
First  of  Exchange  pay  to  Mr.  Ebenezer  Scrooge  or 
his  order,"  and  so  forth,  would  have  become  a  mere 
United  States'  security  if  there  were  no  days  to 
count  by. 

Scrooge  went  to  bed  again,    and   thought,    and 


THE    FIRST    OF    THE    THREE    SPIRITS.  41 

thought,  and  thought  it  over  and  over  and  over, 
and  could  make  nothing  of  it.  The  more  he 
thought,  the  more  perplexed  he  was ;  and  the  more 
he  endeavoured  not  to  think,  the  more  he  thought. 
Marley's  Ghost  bothered  him  exceedingly.  Every 
time  he  resolved  w^ithin  himself,  after  mature  in- 
quiry, that  it  was  all  a  dream,  his  mind  flew  back 
again,  like  a  strong  spring  released,  to  its  first  posi- 
tion, and  presented  the  same  problem  to  be  worked 
all  through,  "  "Was  it  a  dream  or  not  ?" 

Scrooge  lay  in  this  state  tintil  the  cliimes  had 
gone  three  quarters  more,  when  he  remembered,  on 
a  sudden,  that  the  Ghost  had  warned  him  of  a  visi- 
tation when  the  bell  tolled  one.  He  resolved  to  lie 
awake  until  the  hour  was  past ;  and,  considering 
that  he  could  no  more  go  to  sleep  than  go  to 
Heaven,  this  was  perhaps  the  wisest  resolution  in 
his  power. 

The  quarter  was  so  long,  that  he  was  more  than 
once  convinced  he  must  have  sunk  into  a  doze  un- 
consciously, and  missed  the  clock.  At  length  it 
broke  upon  his  listening  ear. 


42  A    CHRISTMAS    CAKOL. 

"  Ding,  (long  !" 

"  A  quarter  past,"  said  Scrooge,  counting. 

"  Ding,  (long  !" 

"  Half  past !"  said  Scrooge. 

"  Ding,  dong  !" 

"  A  quarter  to  it,"  said  Scrooge. 

"Ding,  dong  !" 

"The  hour  itself,"  said  Scrooge,  triumphantly, 
"  and  nothing  else  ! " 

He  spoke  before  the  hour  bell  sounded,  which  it 
now  did  with  a  deep,  dull,  hollow,  melancholy  Oke. 
Light  flashed  up  in  the  room  upon  the  instant,  and 
the  curtains  of  his  bed  were  drawn. 

The  curtains  of  his  bed  were  drawn  aside,  I  tell 
you,  by  a  hand.  Not  the  curtains  at  his  feet,  nor 
the  curtains  at  his  back,  but  those  to  which  his  face 
was  addressed.  The  curtains  of  his  bed  were  drawn 
aside ;  and  Scrooge,  starting  up  into  a  half-recum- 
bent attitude,  found  himself  face  to  face  with  the 
unearthly  visitor  who  drew  them :  as  close  to  it  as  I 
am  now  to  you,  and  I  am  standing  in  the  spirit  at 
your  elbow. 


THE    FIRST    OF    THE    THREE    SPIRITS.  43 

It  was  a  strange  figure — like  a  child  :  yet  not  so 
like  a  child  as  like  an  old  man,  viewed  through 
some  supernatural  medium,  which  gave  him  the 
appearance  of  having  receded  from  the  view,  and 
being  diminished  to  a  child's  proportions.  Its 
hair,  which  hung  about  its  neck  and  down  its 
back,  was  white  as  if  with  age ;  and  yet  the 
face  had  not  a  wrinkle  in  it,  and  the  tenderest 
bloom  was  on  the  skin.  The  arms  were  very  long 
and  muscular ;  the  hands  the  same,  as  if  its  hold 
were  of  uncommon  strength.  Its  legs  and  feet, 
most  delicately  formed,  were,  like  those  upper 
members,  bare.  It  wore  a  tunic  of  the  purest 
white;  and  round  its  waist  was  bound  a  lustrous 
belt,  the  sheen  of  which  was  beautiful.  It  held 
a  branch  of  fresh  green  holly  in  its  hand;  and, 
in  singular  contradiction  of  that  wintry  emblem, 
had  its  dress  trimmed  with  summer  flowers.  But 
the  strangest  thing  about  it  v/as,  that  from  the 
crown  of  its  head  there  sprung  a  bright  clear  jet  of 
light,  by  which  all  this  was  visible ;  and  which  was 
doubtless    the    occasion   of   its  using,   in  its   duller 


44  A    CHRISTMAS    CAROL. 

moments,  a  great  extinguisher  for  a  cap,  which  it 
now  held  under  its  arm. 

Even  this,  though,  when  Scrooge  looked  at  it  with 
increasing  steadiness,  was  not  its  strangest  quality. 
For  as  its  belt  sparkled  and  glittered  now  in  one 
part  and  now  in  another,  and  what  was  light  one 
instant,  at  another  time  was  dark,  so  the  figure 
itself  fluctuated  in  its  distinctness :  being  now  a 
thing  with  one  arm,  now  with  one  leg,  now  with 
twenty  legs,  now  a  pair  of  legs  without  a  head, 
now  a  head  without  a  body  :  of  which  dissolving 
parts,  no  outline  would  be  visible  in  the  dense 
gloom  wherein  they  melted  away.  And  in  the  very 
wonder  of  this,  it  would  be  itself  again ;  distinct 
and  clear  as  ever. 

"  Are  you  the  Spirit,  sir,  whose  coming  was 
foretold  to  me  ?  "  asked  Scrooge. 

"  I  am  !  " 

The  voice  was  soft  and  gentle.  Singularly  low, 
as  if  instead  of  being  so  close  beside  him,  it  were  at 
a  distance. 

"  Who,  and  what  are  you  ? "  Scrooge  demanded. 


THE    FIRST    OF    THE    THREE    SPIRITS.  45 

"  I  am  the  Ghost  of  Christmas  Past." 

"  Long  past  ?  "  inquired  Scrooge  :  observant  of 
its  dwarfish  stature. 

"  No.     Your  past." 

Perhaps,  Scrooge  could  not  have  told  anybody- 
why,  if  anybody  could  have  asked  him  ;  but  he 
had  a  special  desire  to  see  the  Spirit  in  his  cap ; 
and  begged  him  to  be  covered. 

"What!"  exclaimed  the  Ghost,  "would  you  so 
soon  put  out,  with  worldly  hands,  the  light  I  give  ? 
Is  it  not  enough  that  you  are  one  of  those  whose 
passions  made  this  cap,  and  force  me  through  whole 
trains  of  years  to  wear  it  low  upon  my  brow!" 

Scrooge  reverently  disclaimed  all  intention  to 
offend,  or  any  knowledge  of  having  wilfully  "  bon- 
neted" the  Spirit  at  any  period  of  his  life.  He 
then  made  bold  to  inquire  what  business  brought 
him  there. 

"  Your  welfare  !"  said  the  Ghost. 

Scrooge  expressed  himself  much  obliged,  but  could 
not  help  thinking  that  a  night  of  unbroken  rest 
would  have  been  more  conducive  to  that  end.     The 


46  A    CHRISTMAS    CAROL. 

Spirit  must  have  heard  him  thinking,  for  it  said 
immediately  : 

"  Your  reclamation,  then.     Take  heed  ! " 

It  put  out  its  strong  hand  as  it  spoke,  and  clasped 
him  gentlj'  by  the  arm. 

"  Rise  !  and  walk  with  me  !" 

It  would  have  been  in  vain  for  Scrooge  to  plead 
that  the  weather  and  the  hour  were  not  adapted  to 
pedestrian  purposes ;  that  bed  was  warm,  and  the 
thermometer  a  long  way  below  freezing ;  that  he  was 
clad  but  lightly  in  his  slippers,  dressing-gown,  and 
nightcap ;  and  that  he  had  a  cold  upon  him  at  that 
time.  The  grasp,  though  gentle  as  a  woman's  hand, 
was  not  to  be  resisted.  He  rose  :  but  finding  that 
the  Spirit  made  towards  the  window,  clasped  its 
robe  in  supplication. 

"  I  am  a  mortal,"  Scrooge  remonstrated,  "  and 
liable  to  fall." 

"  Bear  but  a  touch  of  my  hand  there"  said  the 
Spirit,  laying  it  upon  his  heart,  "  and  you  shall  be 
upheld  in  more  than  this  ! " 

As  the  words  were  spoken,  they  passed  through 


THE    FIRST    OF    THE    THREE    SPIKITS.  47 

the  wall,  and  stood  upon  an  open  country  road, 
with  fields  on  either  hand.  The  city  had  entirely 
vanished.  Not  a  vestige  of  it  was  to  be  seen. 
The  darkness  and  the  mist  had  vanished  with  it,  for 
it  was  a  clear,  cold,  winter  day,  with  snow  upon  the 
ground. 

"Good  Heaven!"  said  Scrooge,  clasping  his 
hands  together,  as  he  looked  about  him.  "  I  was 
bred  in  this  place.     I  was  a  boy  here  I" 

The  Spirit  gazed  upon  him  mildly.  Its  gentle 
touch,  though  it  had  been  light  and  instantaneous, 
appeared  still  present  to  the  old  man's  sense  of  feel- 
ing. He  was  conscious  of  a  thousand  odours  floating 
in  the  air,  each  one  connected  with  a  thousand 
thoughts,  and  hopes,  and  joys,  and  cares  long,  long, 
forgotten ! 

"  Your  lip  is  trembling,"  said  the  Ghost.  "  And 
what  is  that  upon  your  cheek  ?  " 

Scrooge  muttered,  with  an  unusual  catching  in  his 
voice,  that  it  was  a  pimple  ;  and  begged  the  Ghost 
to  lead  him  where  he  would. 

"  You  recollect  the  way  ?"  inquired  the  Spirit. 


48  A    CHRISTMAS    CAROL. 

"  Remember  it !"  cried  Scrooge  with  fervour 
"  I  could  walk  it  blindfold." 

"  Strange  to  have  forgotten  it  for  so  many  years!" 
observed  the  Ghost.      "  Let  us  go  on." 

They  walked  along  the  road  ;  Scrooge  recognising 
every  gate,  and  post,  and  tree  ;  until  a  little  market- 
town  appeared  in  the  distance,  with  its  bridge,  its 
church,  and  winding  river.  Some  shaggy  ponies  now 
were  seen  trotting  towards  them  with  boys  upon  their 
backs,  who  called  to  other  boys  in  country  gigs  and 
carts,  driven  by  farmers.  All  these  boys  were  in 
great  spirits,  and  shouted  to  each  other,  until  the 
broad  fields  were  so  full  of  merry  music,  that  the 
crisp  air  laughed  to  hear  it. 

"  These  are  but  shadows  of  the  things  that  have 
been,"  said  the  Ghost.  "  They  have  no  consciousness 
of  us." 

The  jocund  travellers  came  on ;  and  as  they  came, 
Scrooge  knew  and  named  them  every  one.  Why 
was  he  rejoiced  beyond  all  bounds  to  see  them  !  "Why 
did  his  cold  eye  glisten,  and  his  heart  leap  up  as 
they  went  past !     "Why  was  he  filled  with  gladness 


THE    FIRST    OF    THE    THREE    SPIRITS.  49 

when  he  heard  them  give  each  other  Merry  Christ- 
mas, as  they  parted  at  cross-roads  and-bye  ways,  for 
their  several  homes  !  "What  was  merry  Christmas 
to  Scrooge  ?  Out  upon  merry  Christmas  !  AVhat 
good  had  it  ever  done  to  him? 

"  The  school  is  not  quite  deserted,"  said  the  Ghost, 
"  A  solitary  child,  neglected  by  his  friends,  is  left 
there  still." 

Scrooge  said  he  knew  it.     And  he  sobbed. 

They  left  -the  high-road,  by  a  well  remembered 
lane,  and  soon  approached  a  mansion  of  dull  red 
brick,  with  a  little  weathercock-surmounted  cupola, 
on  the  roof,  and  a  bell  hanging  in  it.  It  was  a 
large  house,  but  one  of  broken  fortunes;  for  the 
spacious  offices  were  little  used,  their  walls  were 
damp  and  mossy,  their  windows  broken,  and  their 
gates  decayed.  Fowls  clucked  and  strutted  in  the 
stables  ;  and  the  coach-houses  and  sheds  were  over- 
run with  grass.  Nor  was  it  more  retentive  of  its 
ancient  state,  within  ;  for  entering  the  dreary  hall, 
and  glancing  through  the  open  doors  of  many  rooms, 
they  found  them  poorly  furnished,  cold,   and  vast. 


50  A    CHRISTMAS    CAROL. 

There  was  an  earthy  savour  in  the  air,  a  chilly 
bareness  in  the  place,  which  associated  itself  some- 
how with  too  much  getting  up  by  candle-light,  and 
not  too  much  to  eat. 

They  went,  the  Ghost  and  Scrooge,  across  the 
hall,  to  a  door  at  the  back  of  the  house.  It  opened 
before  them,  and  disclosed  a  long,  bare,  melancholy 
room,  made  barer  still  by  lines  of  plain  deal  forms 
and  desks.  At  one  of  these  a  lonely  boy  was  reading 
near  a  feeble  fire ;  and  Scrooge  sat  down  upon  a 
form,  and  wept  to  see  his  poor  forgotten  self  as  he 
had  used  to  be. 

Not  a  latent  echo  in  the  house,  not  a  squeak  and 
scuffle  from  the  mice  behind  the  panneling,  not  a 
drip  from  the  half- thawed  water-spout  in  the  dull 
yard  behind,  not  a  sigh  among  the  leafless  boughs 
of  one  despondent  poplar,  not  the  idle  swinging  of 
an  empty  store-house  door,  no,  not  a  clicking  in  the 
fire,  but  fell  upon  the  heart  of  Scrooge  with  softening 
influence,  and  gave  a  freer  passage  to  his  tears. 

The  Spirit  touched  him  on  the  arm,  and  pointed 
to  his  younger  self,  intent  upon  his  reading.     Sud- 


THE    FIRST    OF    THE    THREE    SPIRITS.  51 

denly  a  man,  in  foreign  garments  :  wonderfully  real 
and  distinct  to  look  at :  stood  outside  the  window, 
with  an  axe  stuck  in  his  belt,  and  leading  an  ass 
laden  with  wood  by  the  bridle. 

"  Why,  it 's  Ali  Baba !"  Scrooge  exclaimed  in 
ecstacy.  "  It 's  dear  old  honest  Ali  Baba  !  Yes, 
yes,  I  know  !  One  Christmas  time,  when  yonder 
solitary  child  was  left  here  all  alone,  he  did  come, 
for  the  first  time,  just  like  that.  Poor  boy  !  And 
Valentine,"  said  Scrooge,  "  and  his  wild  brother, 
Orson;  there  they  go  !  And  what 's  his  name,  who 
was  put  down  in  his  drawers,  asleep,  at  the  Gate  of 
Damascus ;  don't  you  see  him !  And  the  Sultan's 
Groom  turned  upside-down  by  the  Genii ;  there 
he  is  upon  his  head !  Serve  him  right.  I'm  glad 
of  it.  What  business  had  he  to  be  married  to  the 
Princess !" 

To  hear  Scrooge  expending  all  the  earnestness  of 

his  nature  on  such  subjects,  in  a  most  extraordinary 

voice  between  laughing  and  crying ;  and  to  see  his 

heightened  and  excited  face ;    would  have  been  a 

surprise  to  his  business  friends  in  the  city,  indeed. 

E  2 


52  A    CHRISTMAS    CAROL. 

"  There 's  the  Parrot !"  cried  Scrooge.  "  Green 
body  and  yellow  tail,  with  a  thing  like  a  lettuce 
growing  out  of  the  top  of  his  head ;  there  he  is ! 
Poor  Robin  Crusoe,  he  called  him,  when  he  came 
home  again  after  sailing  round  the  island.  '  Poor 
Robin  Crusoe,  where  have  you  been,  Robin  Crusoe?' 
The  man  thought  he  was  dreaming,  but  he  wasn't. 
It  was  the  Parrot,  you  know.  There  goes  Friday, 
running  for  his  life  to  the  little  creek  !  Halloa  ! 
Hoop !     Halloo !" 

Then,  with  a  rapidity  of  transition  very  foreign  to 
his  usual  character,  he  said,  in  pity  for  his  former 
self,  "  Poor  boy  !"  and  cried  again. 

"  I  wish,"  Scrooge  muttered,  putting  his  hand  in 
his  pocket,  and  looking  about  him,  after  drying  his 
eyes  with  his  cuff:  ♦'  but  it's  too  late  now." 

"  What  is  the  matter  ?"  asked  the  Spirit. 

"Nothing,"  said  Scrooge.  "Nothing.  There 
was  a  boy  singing  a  Christmas  Carol  at  my  door  last 
night.  I  should  like  to  have  given  him  something : 
that 's  all." 

The  Ghost  smiled  thoughtfully,   and   waved  its 


THE    FIRST    OF    THE   THREE    SPIRITS.  53 

hand :  saying  as  it  did  so,  "  Let  us  see  another 
Christmas !" 

Scrooge's  former  self  grew  larger  at  the  words,  and 
the  room  became  a  little  darker  and  more  dirty.  The 
pannels  shrunk,  the  windows  cracked ;  fragments  of 
plaster  fell  out  of  the  ceiling,  and  the  naked  laths 
were  shown  instead ;  but  how  all  this  was  brought 
about,  Scrooge  knew  no  more  than  you  do.  He  only 
knew  that  it  was  quite  correct ;  that  everything 
had  happened  so ;  that  there  he  was,  alone  again, 
when  all  the  other  boys  had  gone  home  for  the  jolly 
holidays. 

He  was  not  reading  now,  but  walking  up  and 
down  despairingly.  Scrooge  looked  at  the  Ghost, 
and  with  a  mournful  shaking  of  his  head,  glanced 
anxiously  towards  the  door. 

It  opened ;  and  a  little  girl,  much  younger  than 
the  boy,  came  darting  in,  and  putting  her  arms  about 
his  neck,  and  often  kissing  him,  addressed  him  as 
her  "  Dear,  dear  brother." 

"  I  have  come  to  bring  you  home,  dear  brother  !" 
said  the  child,  clapping  her  tiny  hands,  and  bend- 


54  A    CHRISTMAS    CAROL. 

ing  down  to  laugh.     "  To  bring  you  home,  home, 
home !  " 

"  Home,  little  Fan  ?  "  returned  the  boy. 
"  Yes  !"  said  the  child,  brimful  of  glee.  "  Home, 
for  good  and  all.  Home,  for  ever  and  ever.  Father 
is  so  much  kinder  than  he  used  to  be,  that  home 's 
like  Heaven  !  He  spoke  so  gently  to  me  one  dear 
night  when  I  was  going  to  bed,  that  I  was  not 
afraid  to  ask  him  once  more  if  you  might  come 
home  ;  and  he  said  Yes,  you  should ;  and  sent  me 
in  a  coach  to  bring  you.  And  you're  to  be  a 
man!"  said  the  child,  opening  her  eyes,  "and  are 
never  to  come  back  here;  but  first,  we're  to  be 
together  all  the  Christmas  long,  and  have  the  mer- 
riest time  in  all  the  world." 

"  You  are  quite  a  woman,  little  Fan  !"  exclaimed 
the  boy. 

She  clapped  her  hands  and  laughed,  and  tried  to 
touch  his  head  ;  but  being  too  little,  laughed  again, 
and  stood  on  tiptoe  to  embrace  him.  Then  she  began 
to  drag  him,  in  her  childish  eagerness,  towards  the 
door ;  and  he,  nothing  loth  to  go,  accompanied  her. 


THE    FIRST    OF    THE    THREE    SPIRITS.  55 

A  terrible  voice  in  the  hall  cried,  "  Bring  down 
Master  Scrooge's  box,  there  !"  and  in  the  hall  ap- 
peared   the   schoolmaster   himself,    who    glared   on 
Master  Scrooge  with  a  ferocious  condescension,  and 
threw  him  into  a  dreadful  state  of  mind  by  shaking 
hands  with  him.     He  then  conveyed  him  and  his 
sister  into  the  veriest  old  well  of  a  shivering  best- 
parlour  that  ever  was  seen,  where  the  maps  upon 
the  wall,  and  the  celestial  and  terrestrial  globes  in 
the  windows,  were  waxy  with  cold.     Here  he  pro- 
duced a  decanter  of  curiously  light  wine,  and  a  block 
of  curiously  heavy   cake,   and  administered  instal- 
ments of  those    dainties    to  the  young  people :    at 
the  same    time,  sending  out    a   meagre  servant   to 
offer  a  glass  of  "  something  "  to  the  postboy,  who 
answered  that  he  thanked  the  gentleman,  but  if  it 
was  the  same  tap  as  he  had  tasted  before,  he  had 
rather  not.     Master  Scrooge's  trunk  being  by  this 
time  tied  on  to  the  top  of  the  chaise,  the  children 
bade   the    schoolmaster   good-bye   right   willingly ; 
and  getting  into  it,  drove  gaily  down  the  garden- 
sweep  :    the    quick    wheels  dashing   the   hoar-frost 


56  A    CHRISTMAS    CAROL. 

and  snow  from  oflP  the  dark  leaves  of  the  evergreens 
like  spray. 

"  Always  a  delicate  creature,  whom  a  breath 
might  liave  withered,"  said  the  Ghost.  "  But  she 
had  a  large  heart ! " 

"  So  she  had,"  cried  Scrooge.  "  You  're  right. 
I  will  not  gainsay  it.  Spirit.     God  forbid  !  " 

"  She  died  a  woman,"  said  the  Ghost,  "  and  had, 
as  I  think,  children." 

"  One  child,"  Scrooge  returned. 

"  True,"  said  the  Ghost.     "  Your  nephew  !" 

Scrooge  seemed  uneasy  in  his  mind;  and  answered 
briefly,  "  Yes." 

Although  they  had  but  that  moment  left  the 
school  behind  them,  they  were  now  in  the  busy 
thoroughfares  of  a  city,  where  shadowy  passengers 
passed  and  repassed ;  where  shadowy  carts  and 
coaches  battled  for  the  way,  and  all  the  strife  and 
tumult  of  a  real  city  were.  It  was  made  plain 
enough,  by  the  dressing  of  the  shops,  that  here 
too  it  was  Christmas  time  again  ;  but  it  was  even- 
ing, and  the  streets  were  lighted  up. 


THE    FIRST    OF    THE    THREE    SPIRITS.  57 

The  Ghost  stopped  at  a  certain  warehouse  door, 
and  asked  Scrooge  if  he  knew  it. 

"  Know  it  1  "  said  Scrooge.  "  Was  I  appren- 
ticed here !  " 

They  went  in.  At  sight  of  an  old  gentleman  in 
a  Welch  wig,  sitting  behind  such  a  high  desk,  that 
if  he  had  been  two  inches  taller  he  must  have 
knocked  his  head  against  the  ceiling,  Scrooge  cried 
in  great  excitement : 

"  Why,  it 's  old  Fezziwig  !  Bless  his  heart  ; 
it 's  Fezziwig  alive  again  !  " 

Old  Fezziwig  laid  down  his  pen,  and  looked  up 
at  the  clock,  which  pointed  to  the  hour  of  seven. 
He  rubbed  his  hands ;  adjusted  his  capacious  waist- 
coat ;  laughed  all  over  himself,  from  his  shoes  to 
his  organ  of  benevolence ;  and  called  out  in  a  com- 
fortable, oily,  rich,  fat,  jovial  voice  : 

"  Yo  ho,  there  !     Ebenezer  !     Dick  !  " 

Scrooge's  former  self,  now  grown  a  young  man, 
came  briskly  in,  accompanied  by  his  fellow- 'prentice. 

"  Dick  Wilkins,  to  be  sure  ! "  said  Scrooge  to 
the  Ghost,      "  Bless   me,  yes.     There   he   is.     He 


58  A    CHRISTMAS    CAROL. 

was  very  much  attached  to  me,  was  Dick.     Poor 
Dick  !     Dear,  dear  !  " 

"  Yo  ho,  my  boys  1  "  said  Fezziwig.  "  No  more 
work  to-night.  Christmas  Eve,  Dick.  Christmas, 
Ebenezer  !  Let 's  have  the  shutters  up,"  cried  old 
Fezziwig,  with  a  sharp  clap  of  his  hands,  "  before 
a  man  can  say,  Jack  Robinson  !  " 

You  wouldn't  believe  how  those  two  fellows 
went  at  it !  They  charged  into  the  street  with 
the  shutters — one,  two,  three — had  'em  up  in  their 
places — four,  five,  six — barred  'em  and  pinned  'em — 
seven,  eight,  nine — and  came  back  before  you  could 
have  got  to  twelve,  panting  like  race-horses. 

"  Hilli-ho  !  "  cried  old  Fezziwig,  skipping  down 
from  the  high  desk,  with  wonderful  agility.  "  Clear 
away,  my  lads,  and  let  *s  have  lots  of  room  here  ! 
Hilli-ho,  Dick  !     Chirrup,  Ebenezer!" 

Clear  away !  There  was  nothing  they  wouldn't 
have  cleared  away,  or  couldn't  have  cleared  away, 
with  old  Fezziwig  looking  on.  It  was  done  in  a 
minute.  Every  movable  was  packed  off,  as  if  it 
were  dismissed  from  public  life  for  evermore ;  the 


THE    FIRST    OF    THE    THREE    SPIRITS.  59 

floor  was  swept  and  watered,  the  lamps  were  trim- 
med, fuel  was  heaped  upon  the  fire ;  and  the  ware- 
house was  as  snug,  and  warm,  and  dry,  and  bright 
a  ball-room,  as  you  would  desire  to  see  upon  a 
winter's  night. 

In  came  a  fiddler  with  a  music-book,  and  went 
up  to  the  lofty  desk,  and  made  an  orchestra  of  it, 
and  tuned  like  fifty  stomach-aches.  In  came 
Mrs.  Fezziwig,  one  vast  substantial  smile.  In  came 
the  three  Miss  Fezziwigs,  beaming  and  loveable.  In 
came  the  six  young  followers  whose  hearts  they  broke. 
In  came  all  the  young  men  and  women  employed 
in  the  business.  In  came  the  housemaid,  with  her 
cousin,  the  baker.  In  came  the  cook,  with  her 
brother's  particular  friend,  the  milkman.  In  came 
the  boy  from  over  the  way,  who  was  suspected  of 
not  having  board  enough  from  his  master ;  trying 
to  hide  himself  behind  the  girl  from  next  door  but 
one,  who  was  proved  to  have  had  her  ears  pulled  by 
her  Mistress.  In  they  all  came,  one  after  another ; 
some  shyly,  some  boldly,  some  gracefully,  some 
awkwardly,  some  pushing,  some  pulling ;  in  they  all 


60  A    CHRISTMAS    CAROL. 

came,  anyhow  and  everyhow.  Away  they  all  went, 
twenty  couple  at  once,  hands  half  round  and  back 
again  the  other  way ;  down  the  middle  and  up 
again  ;  round  and  round  in  various  stages  of  affec- 
tionate grouping  ;  old  top  couple  always  turning  up 
in  the  wrong  place ;  new  top  couple  starting  off  again, 
as  soon  as  they  got  there  ;  all  top  couples  at  last,  and 
not  a  bottom  one  to  help  them.  When  this  result 
was  brought  about,  old  Fezziwig,  clapping  his  hands 
to  stop  the  dance,  cried  out,  "  Well  done  !  "  and  the 
fiddler  plunged  his  hot  face  into  a  pot  of  porter, 
especially  provided  for  that  purpose.  But  scorning 
rest  upon  his  reappearance,  he  instantly  began 
again,  though  there  were  no  dancers  yet,  as  if  the 
other  fiddler  had  been  carried  home,  exhausted,  on  a 
shutter ;  and  he  were  a  bran-new  man  resolved  to 
beat  him  out  of  sight,  or  perish. 

There  were  more  dances,  and  there  were  forfeits, 
and  more  dances,  and  there  was  cake,  and  there 
was  negus,  and  there  was  a  great  piece  of  Cold 
Roast,  and  there  was  a  great  piece  of  Cold  Boiled, 
and  there  were  mince-pies,  and  plenty  of  beer.     But 


THE    FIRST    OF    THE    THREE    SPIRITS.  61 

the  great  eflfect  of  the  evening  came  after  the 
Roast  and  Boiled,  when  the  fiddler  (an  artful  dog, 
mind  !  The  sort  of  man  who  knew  his  business 
better  than  you  or  I  could  have  told  it  him  !)  struck 
up  "  Sir  Roger  de  Coverley."  Then  old  Fezziwig 
stood  out  to  dance  with  Mrs.  Fezziwig.  Top  couple 
too ;  with  a  good  stiff  piece  of  work  cut  out  for 
them ;  three  or  four  and  twenty  pair  of  partners ; 
people  who  were  not  to  be  trifled  with  ;  people  who 
would  dance,  and  had  no  notion  of  walking. 

But  if  they  had  been  twice  as  many:  ah,  four 
times  :  old  Fezziwig  would  have  been  a  match  for 
them,  and  so  would  Mrs.  Fezziwig.  As  to  her^ 
she  was  worthy  to  be  his  partner  in  every  sense  of 
the  term.  If  that 's  not  high  praise,  tell  me  higher, 
and  I  '11  use  it.  A  positive  light  appeared  to  issue 
from  Fezziwig's  calves.  They  shone  in  every  part 
of  the  dance  like  moons.  You  could  n't  have  pre- 
dicted, at  any  given  time,  what  would  become  of  'em 
next.  And  when  old  Fezziwig  and  Mrs.  Fezziwig 
had  gone  all  through  the  dance ;  advance  and  retire, 
hold  hands  with  your  partner;  bow  and  curtsey; 


G2  A    CHRISTMAS    CAROL. 

corkscrew ;  thread-thc-needle,  and  back  again  to 
your  place  ;  Fezziwig  "  cut" — cut  so  deftly,  that  he 
appeared  to  wink  with  his  legs,  and  came  upon 
his  feet  again  without  a  stagger. 

When  the  clock  struck  eleven,  this  domestic  ball 
broke  up.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Fezziwig  took  their  stations, 
one  on  either  side  the  door,  and  shaking  hands  with 
every  person  individually  as  he  or  she  went  out, 
wished  him  or  her  a  Merry  Christmas.  When  every- 
body had  retired  but  the  two  'prentices,  they  did 
the  same  to  them ;  and  thus  the  cheerful  voices  died 
away,  and  the  lads  were  left  to  their  beds ;  which 
were  under  a  counter  in  the  back-shop. 

During  the  whole  of  this  time,  Scrooge  had  acted 
like  a  man  out  of  his  wits.  His  heart  and  soul 
were  in  the  scene,  and  with  his  former  self.  He 
corroborated  everything,  remembered  everything, 
enjoyed  everything,  and  underwent  the  strangest 
agitation.  It  was  not  until  now,  when  the  bright 
faces  of  his  former  self  and  Dick  were  turned 
from  them,  that  he  remembered  the  Ghost,  and 
became   conscious  that    it   was   looking   full    upon 


THE    FIRST    OF    THE    THREE    SPIRITS.  63 

him,    while  the   light    upon    its    head    burnt  very 
clear, 

"  A  small   matter,"  said  the   Ghost,    "  to   make 
these  silly  folks  so  full  of  gratitude." 
"Small!"  echoed  Scrooge. 

The  Spirit  signed  to  him  to  listen  to  the  two  ap- 
prentices, who  were  pouring  out  their  hearts  in  praise 
of  Fezziwig :  and  when  he  had  done  so,  said, 

"  Why !  Is  it  not  ?  He  has  spent  but  a  few 
pounds  of  your  mortal  money  :  three  or  four, 
perhaps.  Is  that  so  much  that  he  deserves  this 
praise  ?" 

"It  is  n't  that,"  said  Scrooge,  heated  by  the 
remark,  and  speaking  unconsciously  like  his  former, 
not  his  latter,  self.  "  It  is  n't  that,  Spirit.  He 
has  the  power  to  render  us  happy  or  unhappy ;  to 
make  our  service  light  or  burdensome  ;  a  pleasure  or 
a  toil.  Say  that  his  power  lies  in  words  and  looks ; 
in  things  so  slight  and  insignificant  that  it  is  impos- 
sible to  add  and  count  'em  up :  what  then  ?  The 
happiness  he  gives,  is  quite  as  great  as  if  it  cost  a 
fortune." 


64  A    CHRISTMAS    CAROL. 

He  felt  the  Spirit's  glance,  and  stopped. 

"  What  ia  the  matter  ?"  asked  the  Ghost. 

"  Nothing  particular,"  said  Scrooge. 

"  Something,  I  think?"  the  Ghost  insisted. 

"  No,"  said  Scrooge,  "  No.  I  should  like  to  be 
able  to  say  a  word  or  two  to  my  clerk  just  now ! 
That 's  all." 

His  former  self  turned  down  the  lamps  as  he  gave 
utterance  to  the  wish ;  and  Scrooge  and  the  Ghost 
again  stood  side  by  side  in  the  open  air. 

"  My  time  grows  short,"  observed  the  Spirit. 
"  Quick  !" 

This  was  not  addressed  to  Scrooge,  or  to  any  one 
whom  he  could  see,  but  it  produced  an  immediate 
effect.  For  again  Scrooge  saw  himself.  He  was 
older  now ;  a  man  in  the  prime  of  life.  His  face 
bad  not  the  harsh  and  rigid  lines  of  later  years ;  but 
it  had  begun  to  wear  the  signs  of  care  and  avarice. 
There  was  an  eager,  greedy,  restless  motion  in  the 
eye,  which  showed  the  passion  that  had  taken  root, 
and  where  the  shadow  of  the  growing  tree  would 
faU. 


THE    FIRST    OF    THE    THREE    SPIRITS.  65 

He  was  not  alone,  but  sat  by  the  side  of  a  fair 
young  girl  in  a  mourning-dress  :  in  whose  eyes  there 
were  tears,  which  sparkled  in  the  light  that  shone 
out  of  the  Ghost  of  Christmas  Past. 

"  It  matters  little,"  she  said,  softly.     "  To  you, 

very  little.     Another  idol  has  displaced  me ;   and  if 

it  can  cheer  and  comfort  you  in  time  to  come,  as  I 

would  have  tried  to  do,  I  have  no  just  cause  to  grieve." 

"  "What  Idol  has  displaced  you?"  he  rejoined. 

"  A  golden  one." 

"This  is  the  even-handed  dealing  of  the  world!" 
he  said.  "  There  is  nothing  on  which  it  is  so  hard 
as  poverty  ;  and  there  is  nothing  it  professes  to 
condemn  with  such  severity  as  the  pursuit  of  wealth !" 
"  You  fear  the  world  too  much,"  she  answered, 
gently.  "  All  your  other  hopes  have  merged  into 
the  hope  of  being  beyond  the  chance  of  its  sordid 
reproach.  I  have  seen  your  nobler  aspirations  fall 
off  one  by  one,  until  the  master-passion,  Gam, 
engrosses  you.     Have  I  not  ?" 

"What  then?"  he  retorted.  "Even  if  I  have 
grown  so  much  wiser,  what  then  ?  I  am  not  changed 
towards  you." 


G6  A    CHRISTMAS    CAKOL, 

She  shook  her  head. 

"Am  I?" 

"  Our  contract  is  an  old  one.  It  was  made  when 
we  were  both  poor  and  content  to  be  so,  until,  in 
good  season,  we  could  improve  our  worldly  fortune 
by  our  patient  industry.  You  are  changed.  When 
it  was  made,  you  were  another  man.'' 

"  I  was  a  boy,"  he  said  impatiently. 

"  Your  own  feeling  tells  you  that  you  were  not 
what  you  are,"  she  returned.  "  I  am.  That  which 
promised  happiness  when  we  were  one  in  heart,  is 
fraught  with  misery  now  that  we  are  two.  How 
often  and  how  keenly  I  have  thought  of  this,  I  will 
not  say.  It  is  enough  that  I  have  thought  of  it,  and 
can  release  you." 

"  Have  I  ever  sought  release?" 

"  In  words.     No.     Never." 

"In  what,  then  ?" 

"  In  a  changed  nature ;  in  an  altered  spirit ;  in 
another  atmosphere  of  life ;  another  Hope  as  its 
great  end.  In  everything  that  made  my  love  of  any 
worth  or  value  in  your  sight.  If  this  had  never 
been  between  us,"  said  the  girl,  looking  mildly,  but 


THE    FIRST    OP    THE    THREE    SPIRITS.  67 

with    steadiness,    upon  him;  "tell  me,  would  you 
seek  me  out  and  try  to  win  me  now  ?     Ah,  no  !" 

He  seemed  to  yield  to  the  justice  of  this  sup- 
position, in  spite  of  himself.  But  he  said,  with  a 
struggle,  "  You  think  not." 

"  I  would  gladly  think  otherwise  if  I  could,"  she 
answered,  "  Heaven  knows  !  "When  /  have  learned  a 
Truth  like  this,  I  know  how  strong  and  irresistible 
it  must  be.  But  if  you  were  free  to-day,  to-mor- 
row, yesterday,  can  even  I  believe  that  you  would 
choose  a  dowerless  girl — you  who,  in  your  very 
confidence  with  her,  weigh  everything  by  Gain  :  or, 
choosing  her,  if  for  a  moment  you  were  false  enough 
to  your  one  guiding  principle  to  do  so,  do  I  not 
know  that  your  repentance  and  regret  would  surely 
follow  ?  I  do ;  and  I  release  you.  With  a  full 
heart,  for  the  love  of  him  you  once  were." 

He  was  about  to  speak ;  but  Avith  her  head  turned 
from  him,  she  resumed. 

"  You  may — tlie  memory  of  what  is  past  half 
makes  me  hope  you  will— have  pain  in  this.  A 
very,  very  brief  time,  and  you  will  dismiss  the  recol- 
lection of  it,  gladly,  as  an  unprofitable  dream,  from 

f2 


68  A    CHRISTMAS    CAROL. 

which  it  happened  well  that  you  awoke.  May  you 
be  happy  in  the  life  you  have  chosen  !" 

She  left  him  ;  and  they  parted. 

"  Spirit !"  said  Scrooge,  "  show  me  no  more  ! 
Conduct  me  home.  Why  do  you  delight  to 
torture  me?" 

"  One  shadow  more !"  exclaimed  the  Ghost. 

"  No  more  !"  cried  Scrooge.  "  No  more.  J.  don't 
wish  to  see  it.     Show  me  no  more  !" 

But  the  relentless  Ghost  pinioned  him  in  both  his 
arms,  and  forced  him  to  observe  what  happened  next. 

They  were  in  another  scene  and  place  :  a  room, 
not  very  large  or  handsome,  but  full  of  comfort. 
Near  to  the  winter  fire  sat  a  beautiful  young  girl,  so 
like  the  last  that  Scrooge  believed  it  was  the  same, 
until  he  saw  her,  now  a  comely  matron,  sitting 
opposite  her  daughter.  The  noise  in  this  room  was 
perfectly  tumultuous,  for  there  were  more  children 
there,  than  Scrooge  in  his  agitated  state  of  mind 
could  count ;  and,  unlike  the  celebrated  herd  in  the 
poem,  they  were  not  forty  children  conducting  them- 
selves like  one,  but  every  child  was  conducting  itself 
like  forty.    The  consequences  were  uproarious  beyond 


THE    FIRST    OF    THE    THREE    SPIRITS.  69 

belief  ;  but  no  one  seemed  to  care  ;  on  the  contrary, 
the  mother  and  daughter  laughed  heartily,  and 
enjoyed  it  very  much ;  and  the  latter,  soon  begin- 
ning to  mingle  in  the  sports,  got  pillaged  by  the 
young  brigands  most  ruthlessly.  "What  would  I  not 
have  given  to  be  one  of  them  !  Though  I  never  could 
have  been  so  rude,  no,  no !  I  would  n't  for  the  wealth 
of  all  the  world  have  crushed  that  braided  hair,  and 
torn  it  down ;  and  for  the  precious  little  shoe,  I 
would  n't  have  plucked  it  off,  God  bless  my  soul !  to 
save  my  life.  As  to  measuring  her  waist  in  sport, 
as  they  did,  bold  young  brood,  I  could  n't  have 
done  it ;  I  should  have  expected  my  arm  to  have 
grown  round  it  for  a  punishment,  and  never  come 
straight  again.  And  yet  I  should  have  dearly  liked, 
I  own,  to  have  touched  her  lips ;  to  have  questioned 
her,  that  she  might  have  opened  them ;  to  have 
looked  upon  the  lashes  of  her  downcast  eyes,  and 
never  raised  a  blush  ;  to  have  let  loose  waves  of 
hair,  an  inch  of  which  would  be  a  keepsake  beyond 
price  :  in  short,  I  should  have  liked,  I  do  confess, 
to  have  had  the  lightest  licence  of  a  child,  and 
yet  been  man  enough  to  know  its  value. 


70  A    CHRISTMAS    CAROL. 

But  now  a  knocking  at  the  door  was  heard,  and 
such  a  rush  immediately  ensued  that  she  with  laugh- 
ing face  and  plundered  dress  was  borno  towards  it 
the  centre  of  a  flushed  and  boisterous  group,  just  in 
time  to  greet  the  father,  who,  came  home  attended 
by  a  man  laden  with  Christmas  toys  and  presents. 
Then  the  shouting  and  the  struggling,  and  the  on- 
slaught that  was  made  on  the  defenceless  porter  ! 
The  scaling  him,  with  chairs  for  ladders,  to  dive  into 
his  pockets,  despoil  him  of  brown-paper  parcels,  hold 
on  tight  by  his  cravat,  hug  him  round  the  neck, 
pommel  his  back,  and  kick  his  legs  in  irrepressible 
affection  !  The  shouts  of  wonder  and  delight  with 
which  the  development  of  every  package  was  re- 
ceived !  The  terrible  announcement  that  the  baby 
liad  been  taken  in  the  act  of  putting  a  doll's  frying- 
pan  into  his  mouth,  and  was  more  than  suspected  of 
having  swallowed  a  fictitious  turkey,  glued  on  a 
wooden  platter  !  The  immense  relief  of  finding  this 
a  false  alarm  !  The  joy,  and  gratitude,  and  ecstacy  ! 
They  are  all  indescribable  alike.  It  is  enough  that 
by  degrees  the  children  and  their  emotions  got  out 
of  the  parlour  and  by  one  stair  at  a  time,   up  to 


THE    FIRST    OF    THE    THREE    SPIRITS.  71 

the  top  of  the  house ;  where  they  went  to  bed,  and 
so  subsided. 

And  now  Scrooge  looked  on  more  attentively  than 
ever,  when  the  master  of  the  house,  having  his 
daughter  leaning  fondly  on  him,  sat  down  with  her 
and  her  mother  at  his  own  fireside ;  and  when  he 
thought  that  such  another  creature,  quite  as  graceful 
and  as  full  of  promise,  might  have  called  him  father, 
and  been  a  spring-time  in  the  haggard  winter  of  his 
life,  his  sight  grew  very  dim  indeed. 

"  Belle,"  said  tlie  husband,  turning  to  bis  wife 
with  a  smile,  "  I  saw  an  old  friend  of  yours  this 
afternoon." 

"  Who  was  it  ?  " 

"  Guess ! " 

"  How  can  I  ?  Tut,  don't  I  know,"  she  added  in 
the  same  breath,  laughing  as  he  laughed.  "  Mr. 
Scrooge." 

"  Mr.  Scrooge  it  was.  I  passed  his  office  window; 
and  as  it  was  not  shut  up,  and  he  had  a  candle  inside, 
I  could  scarcely  help  seeing  him.  His  partner  lies 
upon  the  point  of  death,  I  hear ;  and  there  he  sat 
alone.     Quite  alone  in  the  world,  I  do  believe." 


72  A    CHRISTMAS    CAROL. 

"  Spirit ! "  said  Scrooge  in  a  broken  voice,  "  remove 
me  from  this  place." 

"  I  told  you  these  were  shadows  of  the  things  that 
have  been,"  said  the  Ghost.  "  That  they  are  what 
they  are,  do  not  blame  me  ! " 

"  Remove  me  ! "  Scrooge  exclaimed.  "  I  cannot 
bear  it !  " 

He  turned  upon  the  Ghost,  and  seeing  that  it 
looked  upon  him  with  a  face,  in  which  in  some 
strange  way  there  were  fragments  of  all  the  faces  it 
had  shown  him,  wrestled  with  it. 

"  Leave  me !  Take  me  back.  Haunt  me  no 
longer ! " 

In  the  struggle,  if  that  can  be  called  a  struggle  in 
which  the  Ghost  with  no  visible  resistance  on  its 
own  part  was  undisturbed  by  any  effort  of  its  adver- 
sary, Scrooge  observed  that  its  light  was  burning 
high  and  bright ;  and  dimly  connecting  that  with  its 
influence  over  him,  he  seized  the  extinguisher-cap,  and 
by  a  sudden  action  pressed  it  down  upon  its  head. 

The  Spirit  dropped  beneath  it,  so  that  the  extin- 
guisher covered  its  whole  form  ;  but  though  Scrooge 
pressed  it  down  with  all  his  force,  he  could  not  hide 


THE    FIRST    OF    THE    THREE    SPIRITS.  73 

the  light:  which   streamed    from    under   it,   in   an 
unbroken  flood  upon  tlie  ground. 

He  was  conscious  of  being  exhausted,  and  over- 
come by  an  irresistible  drowsiness  ;  and,  further,  of 
being  in  his  own  bedroom.  He  gave  the  cap  a  part- 
ing squeeze,  in  which  his  hand  relaxed ;  and  had 
barely  time  to  reel  to  bed,  before  he  sank  into  a 
heavy  sleep. 


STAVE  THREE. 

THE  SECOND  OF  THE  THREE  SPIRITS. 
Awaking  in  the  middle  of  a  prodigiously  tough 
snore,  and  sitting  up  in  bed  to  get  his  thoughts 
together,  Scrooge  had  no  occasion  to  be  told  that 
the  bell  was  again  upon  the  stroke  of  One.  He  felt 
that  he  was  restored  to  consciousness  in  the  right 
nick  of  time,  for  the  especial  purpose  of  holding  a 
conference  with  the  second  messenger  despatched  to 
him  through  Jacob  Marley's  intervention.  But 
finding  that  he  turned  uncomfortably  cold  when  he 
began  to  wonder  which  of  his  curtains  this  new 
spectre  would  draw  back,  he  put  them  every  one 
aside  with  his  own  hands  ;  and  lying  down  again, 
established  a  sharp  look-out  all  round  the  bed. 
For  he  wished  to  challenge  the  Spirit  on  the  moment 


THE    SECOND    OF   THE    THREE    SPIRITS.  75 

of  its  appearance,  and  did  not  wish  to  be  taken  by 
surprise  and  made  nervous. 

Gentlemen  of  the  free-and-easy  sort,  who  plume 
themselves  on  being  acquainted  with  a  move  or  two, 
and  being  usually  equal  to  the  time-of-day,  express 
the  wide  range  of  their  capacity  for  adventure  by 
observing  that  they  are  good  for  anything  from 
pitch-and-toss  to  manslaughter;  between  which 
opposite  extremes,  no  doubt,  there  lies  a  tolerably 
wide  and  comprehensive  range  of  subjects.  With- 
out venturing  for  Scrooge  quite  as  hardily  as  this, 
I  don't  mind  calling  on  you  to  believe  that  he  was 
ready  for  a  good  broad  field  of  strange  appearances, 
and  that  nothing  between  a  baby  and  a  rhinoceros 
would  have  astonished  him  very  much. 

Now,  being  prepared  for  almost  anything,  he  was 
not  by  any  means  prepared  for  nothing ;  and,  con- 
sequently, when  the  Bell  struck  One,  and  no  shape 
appeared,  he  was  taken  with  a  violent  fit  of  trem- 
bling. Five  minutes,  ten  minutes,  a  quarter  of  an 
hour  went  by,  yet  nothing  came.  All  this  time, 
he   lay  upon   his  bed,  the  very  core    and  centre  of 


7(J  A    CHRISTMAS    CAROL. 

a  bl;izc  of  ruddy  light,  which  streamed  upon  it 
wlien  tlie  clock  proclaimed  the  hour ;  and  whicli 
being  only  light,  was  more  alarming  than  a  dozen 
ghosts,  as  he  was  powerless  to  make  out  what  it 
meant,  or  would  be  at ;  and  was  sometimes  appre- 
hensive that  he  might  be  at  that  very  moment  an 
interesting  case  of  spontaneous  combustion,  without 
having  the  consolation  of  knowing  it.  At  last, 
however,  he  began  to  think — as  you  or  I  would 
have  thought  at  first;  for  it  is  always  the  person 
not  in  the  predicament  who  knows  what  ought  to 
have  been  done  in  it,  and  would  unquestionably 
have  done  it  too — at  last,  I  say,  he  began  to 
think  that  the  source  and  secret  of  this  ghostly 
light  might  be  in  the  adjoining  room  :  from  whence, 
on  further  tracing  it,  it  seemed  to  shine.  This  idea 
taking  full  possession  of  his  mind,  he  got  up  softly 
and  shuffled  in  his  slippers  to  the  door. 

The  moment  Scrooge's  hand  was  on  the  lock,  a 
strange  voice  called  him  by  his  name,  and  bade  him 
enter.     He  obeyed. 

It  was  his  own  room.    There  was  no  doubt  about 


,iy i^^^c^iZ^^  yO'^d^^^^^zy  /C^jy^^^^L- 


Londsrb:  Chapman-  £- .  BiiS,  1S6,  Strand, 


THE    SECOND    OF    THE    THREE    SPIRITS.  77 

that.     But   it    had    undergone   a   surprising   trans- 
formation.    The  walls  and  ceiling  were  so  hung  with 
living   green,  that  it  looked  a  perfect  grove,  from 
every  part  of  which,   bright  gleaming  berries   glis- 
tened.    The  crisp  leaves  of  holly,  mistletoe,  and  ivy 
reflected  back  the  light,  as  if  so  many  little  mirrors 
had  been  scattered  there  ;  and  such  a  mighty  blaze 
went  roaring  up  the  chimney,  as  that  dull  petrifac- 
tion of  a  hearth  had  never  known  in  Scrooge's  time, 
or  Marley's,  or  for  many  and  many  a  winter  season 
gone.     Heaped  up  upon  the  floor,  to  form  a  kind  of 
throne,  were  turkeys,  geese,  game,  poultry,  brawn, 
great  joints  of  meat,  sucking-pigs,  long  wreaths  of 
sausages,     mince-pies,     plum- puddings,    barrels    of 
oysters,    red-hot    chesnuts,    cherry-cheeked    apples, 
juicy  oranges,  luscious  pears,  immense  twelfth-cakes, 
and  seething  bowls  of  punch,  that  made  the  chamber 
dim  with  their  delicious  steam.     In  easy  state  upon 
this  couch,  there  sat  a  jolly  Giant,  glorious  to  see  ; 
who   bore    a   glowing   torch,    in    shape  not  unlike 
Plenty's  horn,  and  held   it  up,  high  up,  to  shed  its 
light  on  Scrooge,  as  he  came  peeping  round  the  door. 


/8  A    CHRISTMAS    CAROL. 

"  Come  in  !"  exclaimed  the  Ghost.  "  Come  in  ! 
and  know  me  better,  man !" 

Scrooge  entered  timidly,  and  hung  his  head  before 
this  Spirit.  He  was  not  the  dogged  Scrooge  he  had 
been;  and  though  its  eyes  were  clear  and  kind,  he 
did  not  like  to  meet  them. 

"  I  am  the  Ghost  of  Christmas  Present,"  said  the 
Spirit.     "  Look  upon  me  !" 

Scrooge  reverently  did  so.  It  was  clothed  in  one 
simple  deep  green  robe,  or  mantle,  bordered  with 
white  fur.  This  garment  hung  so  loosely  on  the 
figure,  that  its  capacious  breast  was  bare,  as  if 
disdaining  to  be  warded  or  concealed  by  any  artifice. 
Its  feet,  observable  beneath  the  ample  folds  of  the 
garment,  were  also  bare ;  and  on  its  head  it  wore  no 
other  covering  than  a  holly  wreath  set  here  and  there 
with  shining  icicles.  Its  dark  brown  curls  were 
long  and  free :  free  as  its  genial  face,  its  sparkling 
eye,  its  open  hand,  its  cheery  voice,  its  unconstrained 
demeanour,  and  its  joyful  air.  Girded  round  its 
middle  was  an  antique  scabbard;  but  no  sword  was 
in  it,  and  the  ancient  sheath  was  eaten  up  with  rust. 


THE    SECOND    OF    THE    THREE    SPIRITS.  79 

"  You  have  never  seen  the  like  of  me  before!" 
exclaimed  the  Spirit. 

"  Never,"  Scrooge  made  answer  to  it. 

"  Have  never  walked  forth  with  the  younger 
members  of  my  family  ;  meaning  (for  I  am  very 
young)  my  elder  brothers  born  in  these  later  years  ?" 
pursued  the  Phantom. 

"  I  don't  think  I  have,"  said  Scrooge.  "  I  am 
afraid  I  have  not.  Have  you  had  many  brothers, 
Spirit?" 

"  More  than  eighteen  hundred,"  said  the  Ghost. 

"  A  tremendous  family  to  provide  for!"  muttered 
Scrooge. 

The  Ghost  of  Christmas  Present  rose. 

"  Spirit,"  said  Scrooge  submissively,  "  conduct 
me  where  you  will.  I  went  forth  last  night  on 
compulsion,  and  I  learnt  a  lesson  which  is  working 
now.  To-night,  if  you  have  aught  to  teach  me,  let 
me  profit  by  it." 

'•'  Touch  my  robe  !" 

Scrooge  did  as  he  was  told,  and  held  it  fast. 

Holly,  mistletoe,  red  berries,  ivy,  turkeys,  geese. 


80  A    CHRISTMAS    CAROL. 

game,  poultry,  brawn,  meat,  pigs,  sausages,  oysters, 
pies,  puddings,  fruit,  and  puncli,  all  vanished  in- 
stantly. So  did  the  room,  the  tire,  the  ruddy  glow, 
the  hour  of  night,  and  they  stood  in  the  city  streets 
on  Christmas  morning,  where  (for  the  weather  was 
severe)  the  people  made  a  rough,  but  brisk  and  not 
unpleasant  kind  of  music,  in  scraping  the  snow  from 
the  pavement  in  front  of  their  dwellings,  and  from 
the  tops  of  their  houses:  whence  it  was  mad  delight 
to  the  boys  to  see  it  come  plumping  down  into  the 
road  below,  and  splitting  into  artificial  little  snow- 
storms. 

The  house  fronts  looked  black  enough,  and  the 
windows  blacker,  contrasting  with  the  smooth  white 
sheet  of  snow  upon  the  roofs,  and  with  the  dirtier 
snow  upon  the  ground  ;  which  last  deposit  had  been 
ploughed  up  in  deep  farrows  by  the  heavy  wheels 
of  carts  and  waggons ;  furrows  that  crossed  and  re- 
crossed  each  other  hundreds  of  times  where  the  great 
streets  branched  off;  and  made  intricate  channels, 
hard  to  trace,  in  the  thick  yellow  mud  and  icy 
water.       The  sky  was    gloomy,    and    the    shortest 


THE    SECOND    OF    THE   THREE    SPIRITS.  81 

streets  were  choked  up  with  a  dingy  mist,  half 
thawed  half  frozen,  whose  heavier  particles  de- 
scended in  a  shower  of  sooty  atoms,  as  if  all  the 
chimneys  in  Great  Britain  had,  hy  one  consent, 
caught  fire,  and  were  blazing  away  to  their  dear 
hearts'  content.  There  was  nothing  very  cheerful 
in  the  climate  or  the  town,  and  yet  was  there  an  air 
of  cheerfulness  abroad  that  the  clearest  summer  air 
and  brightest  summer  sun  might  have  endeavoured 
to  diffuse  in  vain. 

For  the  people  who  were  shovelling  away  on  the 
house-tops  were  jovial  and  full  of  glee;  calling  out 
to  one  another  from  the  parapets,  and  now  and  then 
exchanging  a  facetious  snowball  —  better-natured 
missile  far  than  many  a  wordy  jest  —  laughing 
heartily  if  it  went  right,  and  not  less  heartily  if  it 
went  wrong.  The  poulterers'  shops  were  still  half 
open,  and  the  fruiterers'  were  radiant  in  their  glory. 
There  were  great,  round,  pot-bellied  baskets  of 
chesnuts,  shaped  like  the  waistcoats  of  jolly  old 
gentlemen,  lolling  at  the  doors,  and  tumbling  out 
into  the  street  in  their  apoplectic  opulence.     There 


82  A    CHRISTMAS    CAROL. 

were  ruddy,  brown-faced,  broad-girthed  Spanish 
Onions,  shining  in  the  fatness  of  their  growth  like 
Spanish  Friars ;  and  winking  from  their  shelves  in 
wanton  slyness  at  the  girls  as  they  went  by,  and 
glanceel  demurely  at  the  hung-up  mistletoe.  There 
were  pears  and  apples,  clustered  high  in  blooming 
pyramids ;  there  were  bunches  of  grapes,  made,  in 
the  shopkeepers'  benevolence,  to  dangle  from  con- 
spicuous hooks,  that  people's  mouths  might  water 
gratis  as  they  passed;  there  were  piles  of  filberts, 
mossy  and  brown,  recalling,  in  their  fragrance,  an- 
cient walks  among  the  woods,  and  pleasant  shufflings 
ankle  deep  through  withered  leaves ;  there  were 
Norfolk  Biffins,  squab  and  swarthy,  setting  off  the 
yellow  of  the  oranges  and  lemons,  and,  in  the  great 
compactness  of  their  juicy  persons,  urgently  entreating 
and  beseeching  to  be  carried  home  in  paper  bags  and 
eaten  after  dinner.  The  very  gold  and  silver  fish, 
set  forth  among  these  choice  fruits  in  a  bowl,  though 
members  of  a  dull  and  stagnant-blooded  race,  ap- 
peared to  know  that  there  was  something  going 
on ;  and,  to  a  fish,  went  gasping  round  and  round 


THE    SECOND    OF    THE    THREE    SPIRITS.  83 

their  little  world   in  slow  and   passionless   excite- 
ment. 

The  Grocers' !  oh  the  Grocers' !  nearly  closed,  with 
perhaps  two  shutters  down,  or  one;  but  through 
those  gaps  such  glimpses !  It  was  not  alone  that 
the  scales  descending  on  the  counter  made  a  merry- 
sound,  or  that  the  twine  and  roller  parted  company 
so  briskly,  or  that  the  canisters  were  rattled  up  and 
down  like  juggling  tricks,  or  even  that  the  blended 
scents  of  tea  and  coffee  were  so  grateful  to  the  nose, 
or  even  that  the  raisins  were  so  plentiful  and  rare, 
the  almonds  so  extremely  white,  the  sticks  of  cinna- 
mon so  long  and  straight,  the  other  spices  so  delicious, 
the  candied  fruits  so  caked  and  spotted  with  molten 
sugar  as  to  make  the  coldest  lookers-on  feel  faint 
and  subsequently  bilious.  Nor  was  it  that  the  figs 
were  moist  and  pulpy,  or  that  the  French  plums 
blushed  in  modest  tartness  from  their  highly-deco- 
rated boxes,  or  that  everything  was  good  to  eat  and 
in  its  Christmas  dress  :  but  the  customers  were  all 
so  hurried  and  so  eager  in  the  hopeful  promise  of  the 

day,  that  they  tumbled  up  against  each  other  at  the 

g2 


84  A    CHRISTMAS    CAROL. 

door,  crashing  their  wicker  baskets  wildly,  and  left 
their  purchases  upon  tlie  counter,  and  came  running 
back  to  fetch  thcni,  and  committed  liundrods  of  the 
like  mistakes  in  the  best  humour  possible;  while 
the  Grocer  and  his  people  were  so  frank  and  fresh 
that  the  polished  hearts  with  which  they  fastened 
their  aprons  behind  might  have  been  their  own, 
worn  outside  for  general  inspection,  and  for  Christ- 
mas daws  to  peck  at  if  they  chose. 

But  soon  the  steeples  called  good  people  all,  to 
church  and  chapel,  and  away  they  came,  flocking 
through  the  streets  in  their  best  clothes,  and  with 
their  gayest  faces.  And  at  the  same  time  there 
emerged  from  scores  of  bye  streets,  lanes,  and  name- 
less turnings,  innumerable  people,  carrying  their 
dinners  to  the  bakers'  shops.  The  sight  of  these 
poor  revellers  appeared  to  interest  the  Spirit  very 
much,  for  he  stood  with  Scrooge  beside  him  in  a 
baker's  doorway,  and  taking  off  the  covers  as  their 
bearers  passed,  sprinkled  incense  on  their  dinners  from 
his  torch.  And  it  was  a  very  uncommon  kind  of 
torch,  for   once  or  twice    when    there   were  angry 


THE    SECOND    OF    THE  THREE    SPIRITS.  85 

words  between  some  dinner-carriers  who  liad  jostled 
with  each  other,  he  shed  a  few  drops  of  water  on 
them  from  it,  and  their  good  humour  was  restored 
directly.  For  they  said,  it  was  a  shame  to  quarrel 
upon  Christmas  Day.  And  so  it  was !  God  love 
it,  so  it  was  ! 

In  time  the  bells  ceased,  and  the  bakers'  were 
shut  up;  and  yet  there  was  a  genial  shadowing  forth 
of  all  these  dinners  and  the  progress  of  their  cooking, 
in  the  thawed  blotch  of  wet  above  each  baker's  oven; 
where  the  pavement  smoked  as  if  its  stones  were 
cooking  too. 

"  Is  there  a  peculiar  flavour  in  what  you  sprinkle 
from  your  torch  ?  "  asked  Scrooge. 

"  There  is.     My  own." 

"  "Would  it  apply  to  any  kind  of  dinner  on  this 
day  ?  "  asked  Scrooge. 

"  To  any  kindly  given.     To  a  poor  one  most." 

"  Why  to  a  poor  one  most  ? "  asked  Scrooge. 

"  Because  it  needs  it  most." 

"  Spirit,"  said  Scrooge,  after  a  moment's  thought, 
"  I  wonder  you,  of  all  the  beings  in  the  many  worlds 


86  A    CHRISTMAS    CAROL. 

about  U9,  should  desire  to  cramp  these  people's 
opportunities  of  innocent  enjoyment." 

"  I !  "  cried  the  Spirit. 

"  You  would  deprive  them  of  their  means  of 
dining  every  seventh  day,  often  the  only  day  on 
which  they  can  be  said  to  dine  at  all,"  said  Scrooge. 
"  Wouldn't  you  ?  " 

"  I !  "  cried  the  Spirit. 

"  You  seek  to  close  these  places  on  the  Seventh 
Day  ?  "  said  Scrooge.  "  And  it  comes  to  the  same 
thing.'* 

"  /  seek  !  "  exclaimed  the  Spirit. 

"  Forgive  me  if  I  am  wrong.  It  has  been  done  in 
your  name,  or  at  least  in  that  of  your  family,"  said 
Scrooge. 

"There  are  some  upon  this  earth  of  yours,"  returned 
the  Spirit,  "  who  lay  claim  to  know  us,  and  who  do 
their  deeds  of  passion,  pride,  ill-will,  hatred,  envy, 
bigotry,  and  selfishness  in  our  name ;  who  are  as 
strange  to  us  and  all  our  kith  and  kin,  as  if  they  had 
never  lived.  Remember  that,  and  charge  their 
doings  on  themselves,  not  us." 


THE    SECOND    OF     THE    THREE    SPIRITS.  87 

Scrooge  promised  that  he  would  ;  and  they  went 
on,  invisible,  as  they  had  been  before,  into  the 
suburbs  of  the  town.  It  was  a  remarkable  quality 
of  the  Ghost  (which  Scrooge  had  observed  at  the 
baker's)  that  notwithstanding  his  gigantic  size,  he 
could  accommodate  himself  to  any  place  with  ease  ; 
and  that  he  stood  beneath  a  low  roof  quite  as  grace- 
fully and  like  a  supernatural  creature,  as  it  was 
possible  he  could  have  done  in  any  lofty  hall. 

And  perhaps  it  was  the  pleasure  the  good  Spirit 
had  in  showing  off  this  power  of  his,  or  else  it  was 
his  own  kind,  generous,  hearty  nature,  and  his 
sympathy  with  all  poor  men,  that  led  him  straight 
to  Scrooge's  clerk's ;  for  there  he  went,  and  took 
Scrooge  with  him,  holding  to  his  robe  ;  and  on  the 
threshold  of  the  door  the  Spirit  smiled,  and  stopped 
to  bless  Bob  Cratchit's  dwelling  with  the  sprinklings 
of  his  torch.  Think  of  that !  Bob  had  but  fifteen 
"  Bob  "  a- week  himself ;  he  pocketed  on  Saturdays 
but  fifteen  copies  of  his  Christian  name ;  and  yet  the 
Ghost  of  Christmas  Present  blessed  his  four-roomed 
house ! 


88  A    CHRISTMAS    CAROL. 

Then  up  rose  Mrs.  Cratchit,  Cratchit's  wife,  dressed 
out  but  poorly  in  a  twice-turned  gown,  but  brave  in 
ribbons,  which  arc  cheap  and  make  a  goodly  show 
for  sixpence ;  and  she  laid  tlie  cloth,  assisted  by 
Belinda  Cratchit,  second  of  her  daughters,  also 
brave  in  ribbons;  while  Master  Peter  Cratchit 
plunged  a  fork  into  the  saucepan  of  potatoes,  and 
getting  the  corners  of  his  monstrous  shirt-collar 
(Bob's  private  property,  conferred  upon  his  son  and 
heir  iu  honour  of  the  day)  into  his  mouth,  rejoiced  to 
find  himself  so  gallantly  attired,  and  yearned  to  show 
his  linen  in  the  fashionable  Parks.  And  now  two 
smaller  Cratchits,  boy  and  girl,  came  tearing  in, 
screaming  that  outside  the  baker's  they  had  smelt 
the  goose,  and  known  it  for  their  own ;  and  basking 
in  luxurious  thoughts  of  sage-and-onion,  these 
young  Cratchits  danced  about  the  table,  and  exalted 
Master  Peter  Cratchit  to  the  skies,  while  he  (not 
proud,  although  his  collars  nearly  choked  him) 
blew  the  fire,  until  the  slow  potatoes  bubbling  up, 
knocked  loudly  at  the  saucepan-lid  to  be  let  out  and 
peeled. 


THE    SECOND    OF    THE    THREE    SPIRITS.  89 

"  What  has  ever  got  your  precious  father  then," 
said  Mrs.  Cratchit.  "  And  your  brother,  Tiny  Tim  ! 
And  Martha  warn't  as  late  last  Christmas  Day  by 
half-an-hour !  " 

''  Here's  Martha,  mother  !  "  said  a  girl,  appearing 
as  she  spoke. 

"  Here's  Martha,  mother !  "  cried  the  two  young 
Cratchits.  "Hurrah!  There's  smc^  a  goose,  Martha!" 

"  Why,  bless  your  heart  alive,  my  dear,  how  late 
you  are ! "  said  Mrs.  Cratchit,  kissing  her  a  dozen 
times,  and  taking  off  her  shawl  and  bonnet  for  her, 
with  officious  zeal. 

"  We  'd  a  deal  of  work  to  finish  up  last  night," 
replied  the  girl,  "  and  had  to  clear  away  this  morn- 
ing, mother  ! " 

"  Well !  Never  mind  so  long  as  you  are  come," 
said  Mrs.  Cratchit.  "  Sit  ye  down  before  the  fire, 
my  dear,  and  have  a  warm,  Lord  bless  ye  ! " 

"No  no!  There's  father  coming,"  cried  the  two 
young  Cratchits,  who  were  everywhere  at  once. 
"  Hide  Martha,  hide  !  " 

So  Martha  hid  herself,  and  in  came  little  Bob,  the 


90  A    CHRISTMAS    CAROL. 

father,  with  at  least  three  feet  of  comforter  exclusive 
of  the  fringe,  hanging  down  before  him ;  and  his 
thread-bare  clothes  darned  up  and  brushed,  to  look 
seasonable  ;  and  Tiny  Tim  upon  his  shoulder.  Alas 
for  Tiny  Tim,  he  bore  a  little  crutch,  and  had  his 
limbs  supported  by  an  iron  frame  ! 

"  Why,  where 's  our  Martha  ? "  cried  Bob  Cratchit 
looking  round. 

"  Not  coming,"  said  Mrs.  Cratchit. 
"  Not  coming  !  "  said  Bob,  with  a  sudden  declen- 
sion in  his  high  spirits;  for  he  had  been  Tim's 
blood  horse  all  the  way  from  church,  and  had  come 
home  rampant.  "Not  coming  upon  Christmas 
Day  !  " 

Martha  didn't  like  to  see  him  disappointed,  if  it 
were  only  in  joke  ;  so  she  came  out  prematurely  from 
behind  the  closet  door,  and  ran  into  his  arms,  while 
the  two  young  Cratchits  hustled  Tiny  Tim,  and  bore 
him  off  into  the  wash-house,  that  he  might  hear  the 
pudding  singing  in  the  copper. 

"  And  how  did  little  Tim  behave  ?  "  asked  Mrs. 
Cratchit,  when  she  had  rallied  Bob  on  his  credulity 


THE    SECOND    OF    THE    THREE    SPIRITS.  91 

and  Bob   had  hugged   his   daughter  to  his  heart's 
content. 

"As  good  as  gold,"  said  Bob,  "and  better. 
Somehow  he  gets  thoughtful,  sitting  by  himself  so 
much,  and  thinks  the  strangest  things  you  ever 
heard.  He  told  me,  coming  home,  that  he  hoped 
the  people  saw  him  in  the  church,  because  he  was  a 
cripple,  and  it  might  be  pleasant  to  them  to  remem- 
ber upon  Christmas  Day,  who  made  lame  beggars 
walk  and  blind  men  see." 

Bob's  voice  was  tremulous  when  he  told  them 
this,  and  trembled  more  when  he  said  that  Tiny  Tim 
was  growing  strong  and  hearty. 

His  active  little  crutch  was  heard  upon  the  floor, 
and  back  came  Tiny  Tim  before  another  word  was 
spoken,  escorted  by  his  brother  and  sister  to  his 
stool  beside  the  fire ;  and  while  Bob,  turning  up  his 
cuffs — as  if,  poor  fellow,  they  were  capable  of  being 
made  more  shabby — compounded  some  hot  mixture 
in  a  jug  with  gin  and  lemons,  and  stirred  it  round 
and  round  and  put  it  on  the  hob  to  simmer ;  Master 
Peter  and  the  two  ubiquitous  young  Cratchits  went 


92  A    CHRISTMAS    CAROL. 

to  fetch  the  goose,  with  which  they  soon  returned  in 
high  procession. 

Such  a  bustle  ensued  that  you  might  have  thought 
a  goose  the  rarest  of  all  birds ;  a  feathered  phenome- 
non, to  which  a  black  swan  was  a  matter  of  course  : 
and  in  truth  it  was  something  very  like  it  in  that 
house.    Mrs.  Cratchit  made  the  gravy  (ready  before- 
hand in  a  little  saucepan)  hissing  hot ;  Master  Peter 
mashed  the  potatoes  with  incredible  vigour ;  Miss 
Belinda    sweetened   up    the    apple-sauce ;     Martha 
dusted  the  hot  plates ;   Bob   took  Tiny  Tim  beside 
him  in  a  tiny  corner  at  the  table ;  the  two  young 
Cratchits  set  chairs  for  everybody,  not   forgetting 
themselves,  and  mounting  guard  upon   their  posts, 
crammed  spoons  into  their  mouths,  lest  they  should 
shriek  for  goose  before  their  turn  came  to  be  helped. 
At  last  the  dishes  were  set  on,  and  grace  was  said. 
It  was  succeeded  by  a  breathless  pause,  as  Mrs, 
Cratchit,  looking  slowly  all  along  the  carving-knife, 
prepared  to  plunge  it  in  the  breast ;  but  when  she 
did,   and   when  the  long  expected  gush  of  stuffing 
issued  forth,  one  murmur  of  delight  arose  all  round 


THE    SECOND    OF    THE    THREE    SPIRITS.  93 

the  board,  and  even  Tiny  Tim,  excited  by  the  two 
young  Cratchits,  beat  on  the  table  with  the  handle 
of  his  knife,  and  feebly  cried  Hurrah  ! 

There  never  was  such  a  goose.  Bob  said  he 
didn't  believe  there  ever  was  such  a  goose  cooked. 
Its  tenderness  and  flavour,  size  and  cheapness,  were 
the  themes  of  universal  admiration.  Eked  out  by 
the  apple-sauce  and  mashed  potatoes,  it  was  a  suffi- 
cient dinner  for  the  whole  family ;  indeed,  as  Mrs. 
Cratchit  said  with  great  delight  (surveying  one  small 
atom  of  a  bone  upon  the  dish),  they  hadn't  ate  it  all 
at  last !  Yet  every  one  had  had  enough,  and  tlie 
youngest  Cratchits  in  particular,  were  steeped  in 
sage  and  onion  to  the  eyebrows !  But  now,  the 
plates  being  changed  by  Jliss  Belinda,  Mrs.  Cratchit 
left  the  room  alone — too  nervous  to  bear  witnesses — 
to  take  the  pudding  up,  and  bring  it  in. 

Suppose  it  should  not  be  done  enough  !  Suppose 
it  should  break  in  turning  out !  Suppose  somebody 
should  have  got  over  the  wall  of  the  back-yard,  and 
stolen  it,  while  they  were  merry  with  the  goose  : 
a  supposition  at  which  the   two   young  Cratchits 


94  A    CHRISTMAS    CAROL. 

became  livid !  All  sorts  of  horrors  were  sup- 
posed. 

Hallo !  A  great  deal  of  steam !  The  pudding 
was  out  of  the  copper.  A  smell  like  a  washing-day ! 
That  was  the  cloth.  A  smell  like  an  eating-house, 
and  a  pastry  cook's  next  door  to  each  other,  with  a 
laundress's  next  door  to  that !  That  was  the 
pudding.  In  half  a  minute  Mrs.  Cratchit  entered : 
flushed,  but  smiling  proudly:  with  the  pudding, 
like  a  speckled  cannon-ball,  so  hard  and  firm,  blazing 
in  half  of  half-a-quartern  of  ignited  brandy,  and 
bedight  with  Christmas  holly  stuck  into  the  top. 

Oh,  a  wonderful  pudding  !  Bob  Cratchit  said,  and 
calmly  too,  that  he  regarded  it  as  the  greatest  success 
achieved  by  Mrs.  Cratchit  since  their  marriage.  Mrs. 
Cratchit  said  that  now  the  weight  was  off  her  mind, 
she  would  confess  she  had  had  her  doubts  about  the 
quantity  of  flour.  Everybody  had  something  to  say 
about  it,  but  nobody  said  or  thought  it  was  at  all  a 
small  pudding  for  a  large  family.  It  would  have 
been  flat  heresy  to  do  so.  Any  Cratchit  would  have 
blushed  to  hint  at  such  a  thing. 


THE    SECOND    OF    THE    THREE    SPIRITS.  95 

At  last  the  dinner  was  all  done,  the  cloth  was 
cleared,  the  hearth  swept,  and  the  fire  made  up. 
The  compound  in  the  jug  being  tasted  and  consi- 
dered perfect,  apples  and  oranges  were  put  upon  the 
table,  and  a  shovel-full  of  chesnuts  on  the  fire. 
Then  all  the  Cratchit  family  drew  round  the  hearth, 
in  what  Bob  Cratchit  called  a  circle,  meaning  half 
a  one ;  and  at  Bob  Cratchit's  elbow  stood  the  family 
display  of  glass ;  two  tumblers,  and  a  custard-cup 
without  a  handle. 

These  held  the  hot  stuff  from  the  jug,  however,  as 
well  as  golden  goblets  would  have  done  ;  and  Bob 
served  it  out  with  beaming  looks,  while  the  chesnuts 
on  the  fire  sputtered  and  crackled  noisily.  Then 
Bob  proposed : 

"  A  Merry  Christmas  to  us  all,  my  dears.  God 
bless  us  ! " 

Which  all  the  family  re-echoed. 

"  God  bless  us  every  one  ! "  said  Tiny  Tim,  the 
last  of  all. 

He  sat  very  close  to  his  father's  side,  upon  his 
little  stool.     Bob  held  his  withered  little  hand  in  his. 


96  A    CHRISTMAS    CAROL. 

as  if  he  loved  the  child,  and  wished  to  keep  him  by 
his  side,  and  dreaded  that  he  might  be  taken  from  him. 

"  Spirit,"  said  Scrooge,  with  an  interest  he  had 
never  felt  before,  "  tell  me  if  Tiny  Tim  will  live." 

"  I  see  a  vacant  scat/'  replied  the  Ghost,  "  in  the 
poor  chimney  corner,  and  a  crutch  without  an 
owner,  carefully  preserved.  If  these  shadows  remain 
unaltered  by  the  Future,  the  child  will  die." 

"  No,  no,"  said  Scrooge.  "  Oh  no,  kind  Spirit ! 
say  he  will  be  spared." 

"  If  these  shadows  remain  unaltered  by  the 
Future,  none  other  of  my  race,"  returned  the  Ghost, 
"  will  jGInd  him  here.  What  then  ?  If  he  be  like 
to  die,  he  had  better  do  it,  and  decrease  the  surplus 
population." 

Scrooge  hung  his  head  to  hear  his  own  w^ords 
quoted  by  the  Spirit,  and  was  overcome  with  peni- 
tence and  grief. 

"  Man,"  said  the  Ghost,  "  if  man  you  be  in 
heart,  not  adamant,  forbear  that  wicked  cant  until 
you  have  discovered  "What  the  surplus  is,  and 
Where  it  is.     Will  you  decide  what  men  shall  live. 


THE    SECOND    OF    THE    THREE    SPIRITS.  97 

what  men  shall  die  ?  It  may  be,  that  in  the  sight 
of  Heaven,  you  are  more  worthless  and  less  fit  to 
live  than  millions  like  this  poor  man's  child.  Oh 
God !  to  hear  the  Insect  on  the  leaf  pronouncing 
on  the  too  much  life  among  his  hungry  brothers  in 
the  dust ! " 

Scrooge  bent  before  the  Ghost's  rebuke,  and 
trembling  cast  his  eyes  upon  the  ground.  But  he 
raised  them  speedily,  on    hearing    his   own  name. 

"  Mr.  Scrooge  !  "  said  Bob  ;  "  I'll  give  you  Mr, 
Scrooge,  the  Founder  of  the  Feast !" 

"The  Founder  of  the  Feast  indeed!"  cried  Mrs. 
Cratchit,  reddening.  "  I  wish  I  had  him  here.  I  'd 
give  him  a  piece  of  my  mind  to  feast  upon,  and  I 
hope  he'd  have  a  good  appetite  for  it." 

"  My  dear,"  said  Bob,  "  the  children ;  Christmas 
Day." 

"  It  should  be  Christmas  Day,  I  am  sure,"  said 
she,  "on  which  one  drinks  the  health  of  such  an 
odious,  stingy,  hard,  unfeeling  man  as  Mr.  Scrooge. 
You  know  he  is,  Robert !  Nobody  knows  it  better 
than  you  do,  poor  fellow  !" 

H 


98  A    CHRISTMAS    CAROL. 

"  My  dear,"  was  Bob's  mild  answer,  "  Christmas 
Day." 

"I'll  drink  his  health  for  your  sake  and  the 
Day's,"  said  Mrs.  Cratchit,  "  not  for  his.  Long  life 
to  him !  A  merry  Christmas  and  a  happy  new 
year  !  He'll  be  very  merry  and  very  happy,  I  have 
no  doubt !" 

The  children  drank  the  toast  after  her.  It  was 
the  first  of  their  proceedings  which  had  no  hearti- 
ness in  it.  Tiny  Tim  drank  it  last  of  all,  but  he 
didn't  care  twopence  for  it.  Scrooge  was  the  Ogre 
of  the  family.  The  mention  of  his  name  cast  a 
dark  shadow  on  the  party,  which  was  not  dispelled 
for  full  five  minutes. 

After  it  had  passed  away,  they  were  ten  times 
merrier  than  before,  from  the  mere  relief  of  Scrooge 
the  Baleful  being  done  with.  Bob  Cratchit  told 
them  how  he  had  a  situation  in  his  eye  for  Master 
Peter,  which  would  bring  in,  if  obtained,  full  five- 
and-sixpence  weekly.  The  two  young  Cratchits 
laughed  tremendously  at  the  idea  of  Peter's  being  a 
man  of  business ;  and  Peter  himself  looked  thought- 


THE    SECOND    OF    THE    THREE    SPIRITS.  99 

fully  at  the  fire  from  between  his  collars,  as  if  he 
were  deliberating  what  particular  investments  he 
should  favour  when  he  came  into  the  receipt  of 
that  bewildering  income.  Martha,  who  was  a  poor 
apprentice  at  a  milliner's,  then  told  them  what  kind 
of  work  she  had  to  do,  and  how  many  hours  she 
worked  at  a  stretch,  and  how  she  meant  to  lie  a-bed 
to-morrow  morning  for  a  good  long  rest ;  to-morrow 
being  a  holiday  she  passed  at  home.  Also  how  she 
had  seen  a  countess  and  a  lord  some  days  before,  and 
how  the  lord  "  was  much  about  as  tall  as  Peter;" 
at  which  Peter  pulled  up  his  collars  so  high  that 
you  couldn't  have  seen  his  head  if  you  had  been 
there.  All  this  time  the  chesnuts  and  the  jug  went 
round  and  round ;  and  bye  and  bye  they  had  a  song, 
about  a  lost  child  travelling  in  the  snow,  from  Tiny 
Tim ;  who  had  a  plaintive  little  voice,  and  sang  it 
very  well  indeed. 

There  was  nothing  of  high  mark  in  this.     They 
were  not  a  handsome  family;  they  were  not  well 
dressed ;   their  shoes  were   far  from    being   water- 
proof ;  their  clothes  were  scanty ;  and  Peter  might 
2h 


100  A    CHRISTMAS    CAROL. 

have  known,  and  very  likely  did,  the  inside  of  a 
pawnbroker's.  But  they  were  happy,  grateful, 
pleased  with  one  another,  and  contented  with  the 
time ;  and  when  they  faded,  and  looked  happier 
yet  in  the  bright  sprinklings  of  the  Spirit's  torch 
at  parting,  Scrooge  had  his  eye  upon  them,  and 
especially  on  Tiny  Tim,  until  the  last. 

By  this  time  it  was  getting  dark,  and  snowing 
pretty  heavily  ;  and  as  Scrooge  and  the  Spirit  went 
along  the  streets,  the  brightness  of  the  roaring  fires 
in  kitchens,  parlours,  and  all  sorts  of  rooms,  was 
wonderful.  Here,  the  flickering  of  the  blaze  showed 
preparations  for  a  cosy  dinner,  with  hot  plates  baking 
through  and  through  before  the  fire,  and  deep  red 
curtains,  ready  to  be  drawn,  to  shut  out  cold  and 
darkness.  There,  all  the  children  of  the  house  were 
running  out  into  the  snow  to  meet  their  married 
sisters,  brothers,  cousins,  uncles,  aunts,  and  be  the 
first  to  greet  them.  Here,  again,  were  shadows  on 
the  window-blind  of  guests  assembling  ;  and  there  a 
group  of  handsome  girls,  all  hooded  and  fur-booted, 
and  all  chattering  at  once,  tripped  lightly  off  to  some 


THE    SECOND    OF    THE    THREE    SPIRITS.  101 

near  neighbour's  house ;  where,  wo  upon  the  single 
man  who  saw  them  enter — artful  witches  :  well 
they  knew  it — in  a  glow  ! 

But  if  you  had  judged  from  the  numbers  of  people 
on  their  way  to  friendly  gatherings,  you  might  have 
thought  that  no  one  was  at  home  to  give  them 
welcome  when  they  got  there,  instead  of  every  house 
expecting  company,  and  pihng  up  its  fires  half- 
chimney  high.  Blessings  on  it,  how  the  Ghost 
exulted !  How  it  bared  its  breadth  of  breast,  and 
opened  its  capacious  palm,  and  floated  on,  outpour- 
ing, with  a  generous  hand,  its  bright  and  harmless 
mirth  on  everything  within  its  reach  !  The  very 
lamplighter,  who  ran  on  before,  dotting  the  dusky 
street  with  specks  of  light,  and  who  was  dressed  to 
spend  the  evening  somewhere,  laughed  out  loudly  as 
the  Spirit  passed  :  though  little  kenned  the  lamp- 
lighter that  he  had  any  company  but  Christmas ! 

And  now,  without  a  word  of  warning  from  the 
Ghost,  they  stood  upon  a  bleak  and  desert  moor, 
where  monstrous  masses  of  rude  stone  were  cast 
about,  as  though  it  were  the  burial-place  of  giants  ; 


102  A    CHRISTMAS    CAROL. 

and  water  spread  itself  wheresoever  it  listed ;  or 
would  have  done  so,  but  for  the  frost  tliat  held  it 
prisoner  ;  and  nothing  grew  but  moss  and  furze,  and 
coarse,  rank  grass.  Down  in  the  west  the  setting 
sun  had  left  a  streak  of  fiery  red,  which  glared  upon 
the  desolation  for  an  instant,  like  a  sullen  eye,  and 
frowning  lower,  lower,  lower  yet,  was  lost  in  the 
thick  gloom  of  darkest  night. 

"  "What  place  is  this  ?"  asked  Scrooge. 

"  A  place  where  Miners  live,  who  labour  in  the 
bowels  of  the  earth,"  returned  the  Spirit.  "  But 
they  know  me.     See !" 

A  light  shone  from  the  window  of  a  hut,  and 
swiftly  they  advanced  towards  it.  Passing  through 
the  wall  of  mud  and  stone,  they  found  a  cheerful 
company  assembled  round  a  glowing  fire.  An  old, 
old  man  and  woman,  with  their  children  and  their 
children's  children,  and  another  generation  beyond 
that,  all  decked  out  gaily  in  their  holiday  attire.  The 
old  man,  in  a  voice  that  seldom  rose  above  the  howling 
of  the  wind  upon  the  barren  waste,  was  singing  them 
a  Christmas  song  ;  it  had  been  a  very  old  song  when 


THE    SECOND    OF    THE    THREE    SPIRITS.  103 

he  was  a  boy;  and  from  time  to  time  they  all 
joined  in  the  chorus.  So  surely  as  they  raised  their 
voices,  the  old  man  got  quite  blithe  and  loud ;  and 
so  surely  as  they  stopped,  his  vigour  sank  again. 

The  Spirit  did  not  tarry  here,  but  bade  Scrooge 
hold  his  robe,  and  passing  on  above  the  moor,  sped 
whither  ?  Not  to  sea  ?  To  sea.  To  Scrooge's 
horror,  looking  back,  he  saw  the  last  of  the  land,  a 
frightful  range  of  rocks,  behind  them  ;  and  his  ears 
were  deafened  by  the  thundering  of  water,  as  it 
rolled,  and  roared,  and  raged  among  the  dreadful 
caverns  it  had  worn,  and  fiercely  tried  to  undermine 
the  earth. 

Built  upon  a  dismal  reef  of  sunken  rocks,  some 
league  or  so  from  shore,  on  which  the  waters  chafed 
and  dashed,  the  wild  year  through,  there  stood  a 
solitary  lighthouse.  Great  heaps  of  sea-weed  clung 
to  its  base,  and  storm-birds — bom  of  the  wind  one 
might  suppose,  as  sea-weed  of  the  water — rose  and 
fell  about  it,  like  the  waves  they  skimmed. 

But  even  here,  two  men  who  watched  the  light 
had  made  a  fire,  that  through  the  loophole  in  the 


104  A    CHRISTMAS    CAROL. 

thick  stone  wall  shed  out  a  ray  of  brightness  on  the 
awful  sea.  Joining  their  horny  hands  over  the 
rough  table  at  which  they  sat,  they  wished  each  other 
Merry  Christmas  in  their  can  of  grog ;  and  one  of 
them  :  the  elder,  too,  with  his  face  all  damaged  and 
scarred  with  hard  weather,  as  the  figure-head  of  an 
old  sliip  miglit  be :  struck  up  a  sturdy  song  that  was 
like  a  Gale  in  itself. 

Again  the  Gliost  sped  on,  above  the  black  and 
heaving  sea — on,  on— until,  being  far  away,  as  he 
told  Scrooge,  from  any  shore,  they  lighted  on  a  ship. 
They  stood  beside  the  helmsman  at  the  wheel,  the 
look-out  in  the  bow,  the  ofl&cers  who  had  the  watch  ; 
dark,  ghostly  figures  in  their  several  stations ;  but 
every  man  among  them  hummed  a  Christmas  tune, 
or  had  a  Christmas  thought,  or  spoke  below  his 
breath  to  his  companion  of  some  bygone  Christmas 
Day,  with  homeward  hopes  belonging  to  it.  And 
every  man  on  board,  waking  or  sleeping,  good  or 
bad,  had  had  a  kinder  word  for  another  on  that  day 
than  on  any  day  in  the  year ;  and  had  shared  to 
some  extent  in  its  festivities ;  and  had  remembered 


THE    SECOND    OF    THE    THREE    SPIRITS.  105 

those  he  cared  for  at  a  distance,  and  had  known  that 
they  delighted  to  remember  him. 

It  was  a  great  surprise  to  Scrooge,  while  listening 
to  the  moaning  of  the  wind,  and  thinking  what  a 
solemn  thing  it  was  to  move  on  through  the  lonely 
darkness  over  an  unknown  abyss,  whose  depths  were 
secrets  as  profound  as  Death  :  it  was  a  great  surprise 
to  Scrooge,  while  thus  engaged,  to  hear  a  hearty 
laugh.  It  was  a  much  greater  surprise  to  Scrooge 
to  recognise  it  as  his  own  nephew's,  and  to  find 
himself  in  a  bright,  dry,  gleaming  room,  with  the 
Spirit  standing  smiling  by  his  side,  and  looking  at 
that  same  nephew  with  approving  affability  ! 

"  Ha,  ha  1 "  laughed  Scrooge's  nephew.  "  Ha, 
ha,  ha ! " 

If  you  should  happen,  by  any  unlikely  chance,  to 
know  a  man  more  blest  in  a  laugh  than  Scrooge's 
nephew,  all  I  can  say  is,  I  should  like  to  know 
him  too.  Introduce  him  to  me,  and  I  '11  cultivate 
his  acquaintance. 

It  is  a  fair,  even-handed,  noble  adjustment  of 
things,  that  while  there  is  infection  in  disease  and 


lOG  A    CHRISTMAS    CAROL. 

sorrow,  there  is  nothing  in  the  world  so  irresis- 
tibly contagious  as  laughter  and  good-humour. 
When  Scrooge's  nephew  laughed  in  this  yra,Y : 
holding  his  sides,  rolling  his  head,  and  twisting 
his  face  into  the  most  extravagant  contortions : 
Scrooge's  niece,  by  marriage,  laughed  as  heartily 
as  he.  And  their  assembled  friends  being  not  a  bit 
behindhand,  roared  out,  lustily. 
"  Ha,  ha  !  Ha,  ha,  ha,  ha ! " 
"He  said  that  Christmas  was  a  humbug,  as  I 
live !  "  cried  Scrooge's  nephew.  "  He  believed  it 
too  1  " 

"  More  shame  for  him,  Fred !  "  said  Scrooge's 
niece,  indignantly.  Bless  those  women ;  they  never 
do  anything  by  halves.  They  are  always  in 
earnest. 

She  was  very  pretty  :  exceedingly  pretty.  With 
a  dimpled,  surprised-looking,  capital  face;  a  ripe 
little  m  outh,  that  seemed  made  to  be  kissed — as  no 
doubt  it  was ;  all  kinds  of  good  little  dots  about 
her  chin,  that  melted  into  one  another  when  she 
laughed  ;  and  the  sunniest  pair  of  eyes  you  ever  saw 


THE    SECOND    OF    THE    THREE    SPIRITS.  107 

in  any  little  creature's  head.  Altogether  she  was 
what  you  would  have  called  provoking,  you  know ; 
but  satisfactory,  too.     Oh,  perfectly  satisfactory ! 

"  He 's  a  comical  old  fellow,"  said  Scrooge's 
nephew,  "  that 's  the  truth ;  and  not  so  pleasant  as 
he  might  be.  However,  his  offences  carry  their  own 
punishment,  and  I  have  nothing  to  say  against  him." 

"  I  'm  sure  he  is  very  rich,  Fred,"  hinted  Scrooge's 
niece.    "  At  least  you  always  tell  me  so." 

"  What  of  that,  my  dear  !  "  said  Scrooge's  nephew. 
"  His  wealth  is  of  no  use  to  him.  He  don't  do  any 
good  with  it.  He  don't  make  himself  comfortable 
with  it.  He  has  n't  the  satisfaction  of  thinking 
— ha,  ha,  ha! — that  he  is  ever  going  to  benefit 
Us  with  it." 

"  I  have  no  patience  with  him/'  observed  Scrooge's 
niece.  Scrooge's  niece's  sisters,  and  all  the  other 
ladies,  expressed  the  same  opinion. 

"  Oh,  I  have  !"  said  Scrooge's  nephew.  "  I 
am  sorry  for  him  ;  I  could  n't  be  angry  with  him 
if  I  tried.  Who  suffers  by  his  ill  whims?  Him- 
self, always.     Here,   he  takes  it  into  his  head  to 


108  A    CHRISTMAS    CAROL. 

dislike  us,  and  ho  won't  come  and  dine  with  us. 
What 's  the  consequence  ?  He  don't  lose  much  of 
a  dinner." 

"  Indeed,  I  think  he  loses  a  very  good  dinner," 
interrupted  Scrooge's  niece.  Everybody  else  said 
the  same,  and  they  must  be  allowed  to  have  been 
competent  judges,  because  they  had  just  had  din- 
ner ;  and,  with  the  dessert  upon  the  table,  were 
clustered  round  the  fire,  by  lamplight. 

"  Well !  I  am  very  glad  to  hear  it,"  said  Scrooge's 
nephew,  ''  because  I  have  n't  any  great  faith  in 
these  young  housekeepers.  What  do  you  say, 
Topper  ? " 

Topper  had  clearly  got  his  eye  upon  one  of 
Scrooge's  niece's  sisters,  for  he  answered  that  a 
bachelor  was  a  wretched  outcast,  who  had  no 
right  to  express  an  opinion  on  the  subject.  Whereat 
Scrooge's  niece's  sister — the  plump  one  with  the 
lace  tucker  :  not  the  one  with  the  roses — bluslied. 

"  Do  go  on,  Fred,"  said  Scrooge's  niece,  clapping 
her  hands.  "  He  never  finishes  what  he  begins 
to  say !     He  is  such  a  ridiculous  fellow  !" 


THE    SECOND    OF    THE    THREE    SPIRITS.  109 

Scrooge's  nephew  revelled  in  another  laugh,  and 
as  it  was  impossible  to  keep  the  infection  off;  though 
the  plump  sister  tried  hard  to  do  it  with  aromatic 
vinegar ;  his  example  was  unanimously  followed. 

"  I  was  only  going  to  say,"  said  Scrooge's  nephew, 
"  that  the  consequence  of  his  taking  a  dislike  to  us, 
and  not  making  merry  with  us,  is,  as  I  think,  that 
he  loses  some  pleasant  moments,  which  could  do 
him  no  harm.  I  am  sure  he  loses  pleasanter  com- 
panions than  he  can  find  in  his  own  thoughts, 
either  in  his  mouldy  old  office,  or  his  dusty  cham- 
bers. I  mean  to  give  him  the  same  chance  every 
year,  whether  he  likes  it  or  not,  for  I  pity  him. 
He  may  rail  at  Christmas  till  he  dies,  but  he  can't 
help  thinking  better  of  it — I  defy  him — if  he  finds 
me  going  there,  in  good  temper,  year  after  year, 
and  saying  Uncle  Scrooge,  how  are  you  ?  If  it 
only  puts  him  in  the  vein  to  leave  his  poor  clerk 
fifty  pounds,  that's  something ;  and  I  think  I  shook 
him,  yesterday." 

It  was  their  turn  to  laugh  now,  at  the  notion  of 
his  shaking  Scrooge.     But  being  thoroughly  good- 


110  A    CHRISTMAS    CAROL. 

naturcd,  and  not  much  caring  what  they  laughed 
at,  so  that  they  laughed  at  any  rate,  he  encouraged 
them  in  their  merriment,  and  passed  the  bottle, 
joyously. 

After  tea,  they  had  some  music.  For  they  were 
a  musical  family,  and  knew  what  they  were  about, 
when  they  sung  a  Glee  or  Catch,  I  can  assure  you  : 
especially  Topper,  who  could  growl  away  in  the  bass 
like  a  good  one,  and  never  swell  the  large  veins  in 
his  forehead,  or  get  red  in  the  face  over  it.  Scrooge's 
niece  played  well  upon  the  harp ;  and  played 
among  other  tunes  a  simple  little  air  (a  mere  no- 
thing :  you  might  learn  to  whistle  it  in  two  mi- 
nutes), which  had  been  familiar  to  the  child  who 
fetched  Scrooge  from  the  boarding-school,  as  he  had 
been  reminded  by  the  Ghost  of  Christmas  Past. 
When  this  strain  of  music  sounded,  all  the  things 
that  Ghost  had  shown  him,  came  upon  his  mind ; 
he  softened  more  and  more ;  and  thought  that  if 
he  could  have  listened  to  it  often,  years  ago,  he 
might  have  cultivated  the  kindnesses  of  life  for 
his  own  happiness   with   his   own   hands,   without 


THE    SECOND    OF    THE   THREE    SPIRITS.  Ill 

resorting  to  the  sexton's  spade   that  buried   Jacob 
Marley. 

But  they  didn't  devote  the  whole  evening  to 
music.  After  a  while  they  played  at  forfeits  ;  for 
it  is  good  to  be  children  sometimes,  and  never  better 
than  at  Christmas,  when  its  mighty  Founder  was 
a  child  himself.  Stop  !  There  was  first  a  game  at 
blindman's  buff.  Of  course  there  was.  And  I 
no  more  believe  Topper  was  really  blind  than  I 
believe  he  had  eyes  in  his  boots.  My  opinion  is, 
that  it  was  a  done  thing  between  him  and  Scrooge's 
nephew ;  and  that  the  Ghost  of  Christmas  Present 
knew  it.  The  way  he  went  after  that  plump  sister 
in  the  lace  tucker,  was  an  outrage  on  the  credulity 
of  human  nature.  Knocking  down  the  fire-irons, 
tumbling  over  the  chairs,  bumping  up  against  the 
piano,  smothering  himself  among  the  curtains, 
wherever  she  went,  there  went  he.  He  always 
knew  where  the  plump  sister  was.  He  would  n't 
catch  anybody  else.  If  you  had  fallen  up  against 
him,  as  some  of  them  did,  and  stood  there ;  he 
would  have  made  a  feint  of  endeavouring  to  seize 


112  A    CHRISTMAS    CAROL. 

you,  which  would  have  been  an  affront  to  your 
understanding ;  and  would  instantly  have  sidled  off 
in  the  direction  of  the  plump  sister.  She  often 
cried  out  that  it  was  n't  fair ;  and  it  really  was  not. 
But  when  at  last,  he  caught  her ;  when,  in  spite  of 
all  her  silken  rustlings,  and  her  rapid  flutterings  past 
him,  he  got  her  into  a  corner  whence  there  was  no 
escape ;  then  his  conduct  was  the  most  execrable. 
For  his  pretending  not  to  know  her  ;  his  pretending 
that  it  was  necessary  to  touch  her  head-dress,  and 
further  to  assure  himself  of  her  identity  by  pressing 
a  certain  ring  upon  her  finger,  and  a  certain  chain 
about  her  neck  ;  was  vile,  monstrous !  No  doubt 
she  told  him  her  opinion  of  it,  when,  another  blind- 
man  being  in  office,  they  were  so  very  confidential 
together,  behind  the  curtains. 

Scrooge's  niece  was  not  one  of  the  blind-man's 
buff  party,  but  was  made  comfortable  with  a  large 
chair  and  a  footstool,  in  a  snug  corner,  where  the 
Ghost  and  Scrooge  were  close  behind  her.  But 
she  joined  in  the  forfeits,  and  loved  her  love  to 
admiration    with    all    the   letters    of  the   alphabet. 


THE    SECOND    OF    THE   THREE    SPIRITS.  113 

Likewise  at  the  game  of  How,  When,  and  "Where, 
she  was  very  great,  and  to  the  secret  joy  of  Scrooge's 
nephew,  beat  her  sisters  hollow  :  though  they  were 
sharp  girls  too,  as  Topper  could  have  told  you. 
There  might  have  been  twenty  people  there,  young 
and  old,  but  tliey  all  played,  and  so  did  Scrooge ; 
for,  wholly  forgetting  in  the  interest  he  had  in  what 
was  going  on,  that  his  voice  made  no  sound  in  their 
ears,  he  sometimes  came  out  with  his  guess  quite 
loud,  and  very  often  guessed  right,  too;  for  the 
sharpest  needle,  best  Whitechapel,  warranted  not  to 
cut  in  the  eye,  was  not  sharper  than  Scrooge  :  blunt 
as  he  took  it  in  his  head  to  be. 

The  Ghost  was  greatly  pleased  to  find  him  in 
this  mood,  and  looked  upon  him  with  such  favour 
that  he  begged  like  a  boy  to  be  allowed  to  stay 
until  the  guests  departed.  But  this  the  Spirit  said 
could  not  be  done. 

"  Here  is  a  new  game,"  said  Scrooge.  "  One 
half  hour.  Spirit,  only  one  !  " 

It  was  a  Game  called  Yes  and  No,  where 
Scrooge's  nephew  had  to  think  of  something,  and 


114  A    CHRISTMAS    CAROL. 

the  rest  must  find  out  wliat ;  lie  only  answering  to 
their  questions  yes  or  no  as  tlic  case  was.  The 
brisk  fire  of  questioning  to  which  he  was  exposed, 
elicited  from  him  that  he  was  thinking  of  an  animal, 
a  live  animal,  rather  a  disagreeable  animal,  a  savage 
animal,  an  animal  that  growled  and  grunted  some- 
times, and  talked  sometimes,  and  lived  in  London, 
and  walked  about  the  streets,  and  wasn't  made  a 
show  of,  and  wasn't  led  by  anybody,  and  didn't  live 
in  a  menagerie,  and  was  never  killed  in  a  market, 
and  was  not  a  horse,  or  an  ass,  or  a  cow,  or  a 
bull,  or  a  tiger,  or  a  dog,  or  a  pig,  or  a  cat,  or 
a  bear.  At  every  fresh  question  that  was  put  to 
him,  this  nephew  burst  into  a  fresh  roar  of  laugh- 
ter; and  was  so  inexpressibly  tickled,  that  he  was 
obliged  to  get  up  off  the  sofa  and  stamp.  At 
last  the  plump  sister,  falling  into  a  similar  state,  cried 
out : 

"  I  have  found  it  out !  I  know  what  it  is,  Fred  ! 
I  know  what  it  is  !" 

"  What  is  it  ?"  cried  Fred. 

"  It's  your  TJncle  Scro-o-o-o-oge  !" 


THE    SECOND    OF    THE    THREE    SPIRITS.  115 

Which  it  certainly  was.  Admiration  was  the 
universal  sentiment,  though  some  objected  that  the 
reply  to  "  Is  it  a  bear?"  ought  to  have  been 
"  Yes  ;"  inasmuch  as  an  answer  in  the  negative  was 
sufficient  to  have  diverted  their  thoughts  from  Mr. 
Scrooge,  supposing  they  had  ever  had  any  tendency 
that  way. 

"  He  has  given  us  plenty  of  merriment,  I  am 
sure,"  said  Fred,  "  and  it  would  be  ungrateful  not 
to  drink  his  health.  Here  is  a  glass  of  mulled  wine 
ready  to  our  hand  at  the  moment ;  and  I  say  '  Uncle 
Scrooge !'" 

"  Well !    Uncle  Scrooge  !"  they  cried. 

"  A  Merry  Christmas  and  a  happy  New  Year  to 
the  old  man,  whatever  he  is!"  said  Scrooge's 
nephew.  "He  wouldn't  take  it  from  me,  but  may 
he  have  it,  nevertheless.     Uncle  Scrooge  !" 

Uncle  Scrooge  had  imperceptibly  become  so  gay 
and  light  of  heart,  that  he  would  have  pledged  the 
unconscious  company  in  return,  and  thanked  them 
in  an  inaudible  speech,  if  the  Ghost  had  given  him 
time.     But  the  whole  scene  passed  off  in  the  breath 

I  2 


116  A    CHRISTMAS    CAROL. 

of  the  last  word  spoken  by  his  nephew  ;  and  he  and 
the  Spirit  were  again  upon  their  travels. 

Much  they  saw,  and  far  they  went,  and  many 
homes  they  visited,  but  always  with  a  happy  end. 
The  Spirit  stood  beside  sick  beds,  and  they  were 
clieerful ;  on  foreign  lands,  and  they  were  close  at 
home ;  by  struggling  men,  and  they  were  patient  in 
their  greater  hope;  by  poverty,  and  it  was  rich. 
In  almshouse,  hospital,  and  jail,  in  misery's  every 
refuge,  where  vain  man  in  his  little  brief  authority 
had  not  made  fast  the  door,  and  barred  the  Spirit 
out,  he  left  his  blessing,  and  taught  Scrooge  his 
precepts. 

It  was  a  long  night,  if  it  were  only  a  night ;  but 
Scrooge  had  his  doubts  of  this,  because  the  Christmas 
Holidays  appeared  to  be  condensed  into  the  space  of 
time  they  passed  together.  It  was  strange,  too,  that 
while  Scrooge  remained  unaltered  in  his  outward 
form,  the  Ghost  grew  older,  clearly  older.  Scrooge 
had  observed  this  change,  but  never  spoke  of  it, 
until  they  left  a  children's  Twelfth  Night  party, 
when,  looking  at  the  Spirit  as  they  stood  together 


THE    SECOND    OP    THE    THREE    SPIRITS.  117 

in  an  open  place,  he  noticed  that  its  hair  was 
gray. 

"  Are  spirits'  lives  so  short  ?"  asked  Scrooge. 

"  My  life  upon  this  globe,  is  very  brief,"  replied 
the  Ghost.     "  It  ends  to-night." 

"  To-night !"  cried  Scrooge. 

"  To-night  at  midnight.  Hark !  The  time  is 
drawing  near." 

The  chimes  were  ringing  the  three  quarters  past 
eleven  at  that  moment. 

"  Forgive  me  if  I  am  not  justified  in  what  I  ask," 
said  Scrooge,  looking  intently  at  the  Spirit's  robe, 
"  but  I  see  something  strange,  and  not  belonging  to 
yourself,  protruding  from  your  skirts.  Is  it  a  foot 
or  a  claw !" 

"  It  might  be  a  claw,  for  the  flesh  there  is  upon 
it/'  was  the  Spirit's  sorrowful  reply.     "  Look  here." 

From  the  foldings  of  its  robe,  it  brought  two 
children ;  wretched,  abject,  frightful,  hideous,  miser- 
able. They  knelt  down  at  its  feet,  and  clung  upon 
the  outside  of  its  garment. 

"  Oh,  Man  !  look  here.  Look,  look,  down  here !'' 
exclaimed  the  Ghost. 


118  A    CHRISTMAS    CAROL. 

They  were  a  boy  and  girl.  Yellow,  meagre, 
ragged,  scowling,  wolfish ;  but  prostrate,  too,  in 
their  humility.  Where  graceful  youth  should  have 
filled  their  features  out,  and  touched  them  with  its 
freshest  tints,  a  stale  and  shrivelled  hand,  like  that 
of  age,  had  pinched,  and  twisted  them,  and  pulled 
them  into  shreds.  Where  angels  might  have  sat 
enthroned,  devils  lurked,  and  glared  out  menacing. 
No  change,  no  degradation,  no  perversion  of  humanity, 
in  any  grade,  through  all  the  mysteries  of  wonderful 
creation,  has  monsters  half  so  horrible  and  dread. 

Scrooge  started  back,  appalled.  Having  them 
shown  to  him  in  this  way,  he  tried  to  say  they 
were  fine  children,  but  the  words  choked  themselves, 
rather  than  be  parties  to  a  lie  of  such  enormous 
magnitude. 

"  Spirit !  are  they  yours  ? "  Scrooge  could  say  no 
more. 

"  They  are  Man's,"  said  the  Spirit,  looking  down 
upon  them.  "  And  they  cling  to  me,  appealing  from 
their  fathers.  This  boy  is  Ignorance.  This  girl  is 
Want.  Beware  them  both,  and  all  of  their  degree, 
but  most  of  all  beware  this  boy,  for  on  his  brow  I 


THE    SECOND    OF    THE   THREE    SPIRITS. 


119 


see  that  written  which  is  Doom,  unless  the  writing  be 
erased.  Deny  it !  "  cried  the  Spirit,  stretching  out 
its  hand  towards  the  city.  "  Slander  those  who  tell 
it  ye !  Admit  it  for  your  factious  purposes,  and 
make  it  worse  !    And  bide  the  end  !  " 


120  A    CHRISTMAS    CAROL. 

"Have  they  no  refuge  or  resource?"  cried  Scrooge. 

"  Are  there  no  prisons  ?  "  said  the  Spirit,  turning 
on  him  for  the  last  time  with  his  own  words.  "  Are 
there  no  workhouses  ?  " 

The  bell  struck  twelve. 

Scrooge  looked  about  him  for  the  Ghost,  and  saw 
it  not.  As  the  last  stroke  ceased  to  vibrate,  he 
remembered  the  prediction  of  old  Jacob  Marley,  and 
lifting  up  his  eyes,  beheld  a  solemn  Phantom,  draped 
and  hooded,  coming,  like  a  mist  along  the  ground, 
towards  him. 


STAVE  FOUR. 


THE  LAST  OF  THE  SPIRITS. 

The  Phantom  slowly,  gravely,  silently,  ap- 
proached. When  it  came  near  him,  Scrooge  bent 
down  upon  his  knee ;  for  in  the  very  air  through 
which  this  Spirit  moved  it  seemed  to  scatter  gloom 
and  mystery. 

It  was  shrouded  in  a  deep  black  garment^  which 
concealed  its  head,  its  face,  its  form,  and  left  nothing 
of  it  visible  save  one  outstretched  hand.  But  for 
this  it  would  have  been  difficult  to  detach  its  figure 
from  the  night,  and  separate  it  from  the  darkness  by 
which  it  was  surrounded. 

He  felt  that  it  was  tall  and  stately  when  it  came 
beside  him,  and  that  its  mysterious  presence  filled 
him  with  a  solemn  dread.  He  knew  no  more,  for 
the  Spirit  neither  spoke  nor  moved. 


122  A    CHRISTMAS    CAROL. 

"  I  am  in  the  presence  of  the  Ghost  of  Christmas 
Yet  To  Come  ? "  said  Scrooge. 

The  Spirit  answered  not,  but  pointed  onward 
with  its  hand. 

"  You  are  about  to  show  me  shadows  of  the 
things  tliat  have  not  happened,  but  will  happen  in 
the  time  before  us,"  Scrooge  pursued.  "  Is  that 
so,  Spirit?" 

The  upper  portion  of  the  garment  was  contracted 
for  an  instant  in  its  folds,  as  if  the  Spirit  had  in- 
clined its  head.  That  was  the  only  answer  he 
received. 

Although  well  used  to  ghostly  company  by  this 
time,  Scrooge  feared  the  silent  shape  so  much  that 
his  legs  trembled  beneath  him,  and  he  found  that  he 
could  hardly  stand  when  he  prepared  to  follow  it. 
The  Spirit  paused  a  moment,  as  observing  his  con- 
dition, and  giving  him  time  to  recover. 

But  Scrooge  was  all  the  worse  for  this.  It 
thrilled  him  with  a  vague  uncertain  horror,  to  know 
that  behind  the  dusky  shroud,  there  were  ghostly 
eyes  intently  fixed  upon  him,  while  he,  though  he 


THE    LAST    OF    THE    SPIRITS.  123 

Stretched  his  own  to  the  utmost,  could  see  nothing 
but  a  spectral  hand  and  one  great  heap  of  black. 

"Ghost  of  the  Future!"  he  exclaimed,  "  I  fear 
you  more  than  any  Spectre  I  have  seen.  But,  as  I 
know  your  purpose  is  to  do  me  good,  and  as  I  hope 
to  live  to  be  another  man  from  what  I  was,  I  am 
prepared  to  bear  you  company,  and  do  it  with  a 
thankful  heart.     "Will  you  not  speak  to  me  ?" 

It  gave  him  no  reply.  The  hand  was  pointed 
straight  before  them. 

"Lead  on!"  said  Scrooge.  "Lead  on!  The 
night  is  waning  fast,  and  it  is  precious  time  to  me, 
I  know.     Lead  on,  Spirit !" 

The  Phantom  moved  away  as  it  had  come  to- 
wards him.  Scrooge  followed  in  the  shadow  of  its 
dress,  which  bore  him  up,  he  thought,  and  carried 
him  along. 

They  scarcely  seemed  to  enter  the  city ;  for  the 
city  rather  seemed  to  spring  up  about  them,  and 
encompass  them  of  its  own  act.  But  there  they 
were,  in  the  heart  of  it ;  on  'Change,  amongst  the 
merchants  ;  who  hurried  up  and  down,  and  chinked 


124  A    CHRISTMAS    CAROL. 

the  money  in  their  pockets,  and  conversed  in 
groups,  and  looked  at  their  watches,  and  trifled 
thoughtfully  with  their  great  gold  seals;  and  so 
forth,  as  Scrooge  had  seen  them  often. 

The  Spirit  stopped  beside  one  little  knot  of  busi- 
ness men.  Observing  that  the  hand  was  pointed  to 
them,  Scrooge  advanced  to  listen  to  their  talk. 

"  No,"  said  a  great  fat  man  with  a  monstrous 
chin,  "  I  don't  know  much  about  it,  either  way.  I 
only  know  he 's  dead." 

"  When  did  he  die? "  inquired  another. 

"  Last  night,  I  believe." 

"  Why,  what  was  the  matter  with  him  ?"  asked 
a  third,  taking  a  vast  quantity  of  snuff  out  of  a 
very  large  snuff-box.    "  I  thought  he  'd  never  die." 

"  God  knows,"  said  the  first,  with  a  yawn. 

"  What  has  he  done  with  his  money  ?''  asked  a 
red-faced  gentleman  with  a  pendulous  excrescence 
on  the  end  of  his  nose,  that  shook  like  the  gills  of  a 
turkey-cock. 

"  I  haven't  heard,"  said  the  man  with  the  large 
chin,  yawning  again.    "Left    it  to  his  Company, 


THE    LAST    OF    THE    SPIRITS.  125 

perhaps.     He   hasn't  left  it  to    me.     Tliat  's  all   I 
know.'' 

This  pleasantry  was  received  with  a  general  laugh. 

"  It 's  likely  to  be  a  very  cheap  funeral,"  said  the 
same  speaker ;  "  for  upon  my  life  I  don't  know  of 
anybody  to  go  to  it.  Suppose  we  make  up  a  party 
and  volunteer  ? " 

"  I  don't  mind  going  if  a  lunch  is  provided," 
observed  the  gentleman  with  the  excrescence  on  his 
nose.     "  But  I  must  be  fed,  if  I  make  one." 

Another  laugh. 

"  Well,  I  am  the  most  disinterested  among  you, 
after  all,"  said  the  first  speaker,  "  for  I  never  wear 
black  gloves,  and  I  never  eat  lunch.  But  I  '11  offer 
to  go,  if  anybody  else  will.  When  I  come  to  think 
of  it,  I  'm  not  at  all  sure  that  I  wasn't  his  most 
particular  friend  ;  for  we  used  to  stop  and  speak 
whenever  we  met.     Bye,  bye  !" 

Speakers  and  listeners  strolled  away,  and  mixed 
with  other  groups.  Scrooge  knew  the  men,  and 
looked  towards  the  Spirit  for  an  explanation. 

The  Phantom  glided  on  into  a  street.     Its  finger 


126  A    CHRISTMAS    CAROL. 

pointed  to  two  persons  meeting.  Scrooge  listened 
again,  thinking  that  the  explanation  might  lie  here. 

He  knew  these  men,  also,  perfectly.  They  were 
men  of  business :  very  wealthy,  and  of  great  im- 
portance. He  had  made  a  point  always  of  standing 
well  in  their  esteem :  in  a  business  point  of  view, 
that  is  ;  strictly  in  a  business  point  of  view. 

''  How  are  you  ? "  said  one. 

"  How  are  you  ?  ''  returned  the  other. 

"  Well !  "  said  the  first.  "  Old  Scratch  has  got 
his  own  at  last,  hey  ?  " 

"  So  I  am  told,"  returned  the  second.  "  Cold, 
isn't  it  ? " 

"  Seasonable  for  Christmas  time.  You  're  not  a 
skaiter,  I  suppose  ?  " 

"  No.     No.    Something  else  to  think  of.     Good 


morning ! 

Not  another  word.  That  was  their  meeting, 
their  conversation,  and  their  parting. 

Scrooge  was  at  first  inclined  to  be  surprised  that 
the  Spirit  should  attach  importance  to  conversations 
apparently  so  trivial ;  but  feeling  assured  that  they 


THE    LAST    OF    THE    SPIRITS.  127 

must  have  some  hidden  purpose,  he  set  himself  to 
consider  what  it  was  likely  to   be.      They  could 
scarcely  be  supposed  to  have  any  bearing  on  the 
death  of  Jacob,  his  old  partner,  for  that  was  Past, 
and  this  Ghost's  province  was  the   Future.     Nor 
could  he  think  of  any  one  immediately  connected 
with  himself,  to  whom  he  could  apply  them.     But 
nothing  doubting  that  to  whomsoever  they  applied 
they  had  some  latent  moral  for  his  own  improve- 
ment, he  resolved  to  treasure  up   every  word   he 
heard,   and  everything  he  saw ;   and   especially   to 
observe  the  shadow  of  himself  when  it  appeared. 
For  he  had  an  expectation  that  the  conduct  of  his 
future   self   v>70uld  give   him   the    clue    he   missed, 
and  would   render  the   solution    of    these    riddles 
easy. 

He  looked  about  in  that  very  place  for  his  own 
image  ;  but  another  man  stood  in  his  accustomed 
corner,  and  though  the  clock  pointed  to  his  usual 
time  of  day  for  being  there,  he  saw  no  likeness 
of  himself  among  the  multitudes  that  poured  in 
through  the    Porch.       It   gave  him   little  surprise, 


128  A    CHRISTMAS    CAROL. 

however;  for  he  had  been  revolving  in  his  mind 
a  change  of  life,  and  thought  and  hoped  he  saw 
his  new-born  resolutions  carried  out  in  this. 

Quiet  and  dark,  beside  him  stood  the  Phantom, 
with  its  outstretched  hand.  When  he  roused  him- 
self from  his  thoughtful  quest,  he  fancied  from 
the  turn  of  the  hand,  and  its  situation  in  reference 
to  himself,  that  the  Unseen  Eyes  were  looking  at 
him  keenly.  It  made  him  shudder,  and  feel  very 
cold. 

They  left  the  busy  scene,  and  went  into  an 
obscure  part  of  the  town,  where  Scrooge  had  never 
penetrated  before,  although  he  recognised  its  situ- 
ation, and  its  bad  repute.  The  ways  were  foul 
and  narrow  ;  the  shops  and  houses  wretched  ;  tlie 
people  half-naked,  drunken,  slipshod,  ugly.  Alleys 
and  archways,  like  so  many  cesspools,  disgorged 
their  oflFences  of  smell,  and  dirt,  and  life,  upon  the 
straggling  streets;  and  the  whole  quarter  reeked 
with  crime,  with  filth,  and  misery. 

Far  in  this  den  of  infamous  resort,  there  was  a 
low-browed,  beetling  shop,  below  a  pent-house  roof, 


THE    LAST    OF    THE    SPIRITS.  129 

where  iron,  old  rags,  bottles,  bones,  and  greasy 
offal,  were  bought.  Upon  the  floor  within,  were 
piled  up  heaps  of  rusty  keys,  nails,  chains,  binges, 
files,  scales,  weights,  and  refuse  iron  of  all  kinds. 
Secrets  that  few  would  like  to  scrutinise  were  bred 
and  hidden  in  mountains  of  unseemly  rags,  masses 
of  corrupted  fat,  and  sepulchres  of  bones.  Sitting 
in  among  the  wares  he  dealt  in,  by  a  charcoal- 
stove,  made  of  old  bricks,  was  a  gray-haired  rascal, 
nearly  seventy  years  of  age;  who  had  screened  him- 
self from  the  cold  air  without,  by  a  frousy  cur- 
taining of  miscellaneous  tatters,  hung  upon  a  line  ; 
and  smoked  his  pipe  in  all  the  luxury  of  calm 
retirement. 

Scrooge  and  the  Phantom  came  into  the  presence 
of  this  man,  just  as  a  woman  with  a  heavy  bundle 
slunk  into  the  shop.  But  she  had  scarcely  entered, 
when  another  woman,  similarly  laden,  came  in  too  ; 
and  she  was  closely  followed  by  a  man  in  faded 
black,  who  was  no  less  startled  by  the  sight  of 
them,  than  they  had  been  upon  the  recognition  of 
each  other.     After  a  short  period  of  blank  astonish- 


130  A    CHRISTMAS    CAROL. 

ment,  in  which  the  old  man  with  the  pipe  liad 
joined  them,  they  all  three  burst  into  a  laugh. 

"  Let  the  charwoman  alone  to  be  the  first ! " 
cried  she  who  had  entered  first.  "  Let  the  laun- 
dress alone  to  be  the  second ;  and  let  the  under- 
taker's man  alone  to  be  the  third.  Look  here,  old 
Joe,  here's  a  chance !  If  we  haven't  all  three  met  here 
without  meaning  it !  " 

"  You  couldn't  have  met  in  a  better  place,"  said 
old  .Joe,  removing  his  pipe  from  his  mouth,  "  Come 
into  the  parlour.  You  were  made  free  of  it  long 
ago,  you  know ;  and  the  other  two  an't  strangers. 
Stop  till  I  shut  the  door  of  the  shop.  Ah  !  How 
it  skreeks !  There  an't  such  a  rusty  bit  of  metal 
in  the  place  as  its  own  hinges,  I  believe ;  and  I'm 
sure  there's  no  such  old  bones  here,  as  mine.  Ha, 
ha  I  We're  all  suitable  to  our  calling,  we're  well 
matclied.  Come  into  the  parlour.  Come  into  the 
parlour." 

The  parlour  was  the  space  behind  the  screen  of 
rags.  The  old  man  raked  the  fire  together  with 
an  old  stair-rod,  and  having  trimmed  his   smoky 


THE   LAST   OP   THE    SPIRITS.  131 

lamp  (for  it  was  night),  with  the  stem  of  his  pipe, 
put  it  in  his  mouth  again. 

While  he  did  this,  the  woman  who  had  already 
spoken  threw  her  hundle  on  the  floor  and  sat  down 
in  a  flaunting  manner  on  a  stool ;  crossing  her 
elbows  on  her  knees,  and  looking  with  a  bold 
defiance  at  the  other  two. 

"What  odds  then  !  What  odds,  Mrs.  Dilber?" 
said  the  woman.  "  Every  person  has  a  right  to 
take  care  of  themselves.     He  always  did  ! " 

"  That's  true,  indeed  !  "  said  the  laundress.  "  No 
man  more  so." 

"  Why,  then,  don't  stand  staring  as  if  you  was 
afraid,  woman  ;  who 's  the  wiser  ?  We  're  not  going 
to  pick  holes  in  each  other's  coats,  I  suppose  ?  " 

"  No,  indeed  ! "  said  Mrs.  Dilber  and  the  man 
together.    "  We  should  hope  not." 

"  Very  well,  then !"  cried  the  woman.     "  That 's 

enough.     Who 's  the  worse  for  the  loss    of  a  few 

things  like  these  ?    Not  a  dead  man,  I  suppose." 

"  No,  indeed,"  said  Mrs.  Dilber,  laughing- 

K  2 


132  A    CHRISTMAS    CAROL. 

"If  he  wanted  to  keep  'em  after  he  was  dead,  a 
wicked  old  screw,"  pursued  the  woman,  "  why  wasn't 
he  natural  in  his  lifetime  ?  If  he  had  been,  he  'd 
have  had  somebody  to  look  after  him  when  lie  was 
struck  with  Death,  instead  of  lying  gasping  out  his 
last  there,  alone  by  himself.'' 

"  It 's  the  truest  word  that  ever  was  spoke,"  said 
Mrs.  Dilber.    "  It 's  a  judgment  on  him." 

«'  I  wish  it  was  a  little  heavier  judgment,"  replied 
the  woman  ;  "  and  it  should  have  been,  you  may 
depend  upon  it,  if  I  could  have  laid  my  hands  on  any- 
thing else.  Open  that  bundle,  old  Joe,  and  let  me 
know  the  value  of  it.  Speak  out  plain.  I  'm  not 
afraid  to  be  the  first,  nor  afraid  for  them  to  see  it. 
We  knew  pretty  well  that  we  were  helping  our- 
selves, before  we  met  here,  I  believe.  It 's  no  sin. 
Open  the  bundle,  Joe." 

But  the  gallantry  of  her  friends  would  not  allow  of 
this;  and  the  man  in  faded  black,  mounting  the 
breach  first,  produced  his  plunder.  It  was  not 
extensive.  A  seal  or  two,  a  pencil-case,  a  pair  of 
sleeve-buttons,  and  a  brooch  of  no  great  value,  were 


THE    LAST    OF    THE    SPIRITS.  133 

all.  They  were  severally  examined  and  appraised 
by  old  Joe,  who  chalked  the  sums  he  was  disposed 
to  give  for  each,  upon  the  wall,  and  added  them  up 
into  a  total  when  he  found  that  there  was  nothing 
more  to  come. 

"  That 's  your  account,"  said  Joe,  "  and  I  wouldn't 
give  another  sixpence,  if  I  was  to  be  boiled  for  not 
doing  it.     Who's  next  ?" 

Mrs.  Dilber  was  next.  Sheets  and  towels,  a  little 
wearing  apparel,  two  old-fashioned  silver  teaspoons, 
a  pair  of  sugar-tongs,  and  a  few  boots.  Her  account 
was  stated  on  the  wall  in  the  same  manner. 

"  I  always  give  too  much  to  ladies.  It 's  a  weak- 
ness of  mine,  and  that's  the  way  I  ruin  myself," 
said  old  Joe.  "  That 's  your  account.  If  you  asked 
me  for  another  penny,  and  made  it  an  open  question, 
I  'd  repent  of  being  so  liberal,  and  knock  oflF  half-a- 
crown." 

"  And  now  undo  my  bundle,  Joe,"  said  the  first 
woman. 

Joe  went  down  on  his  knees  for  the  greater  con- 
venience of  opening  it,  and  having  unfastened  a  great 


134  A    CHRISTMAS    CABOL. 

many  knots,  dragged  out  a  large  and  lieavy  roll  of 
some  dark  stuff. 

"What  do  you  call  this?"  said  Joe.  "Bed- 
curtains  !" 

"  Ah  !"  returned  the  woman,  laughing  and 
leaning  forward  on  her  crossed  arms.  "  Bed- 
curtains  !'' 

"  You  don't  mean  to  say  you  took  'em  down, 
rings  and  all,  with  him  lying  there?"  said  Joe. 

"  Yes  I  do,"  replied  the  woman.     "  Why  not  ?" 

"  You  were  born  to  make  your  fortune,"  said  Joe, 
"  and  you  '11  certainly  do  it." 

"  I  certainly  shan't  bold  my  band,  when  I  can 
get  anything  in  it  by  reaching  it  out,  for  the  sake  of 
such  a  man  as  He  was,  I  promise  you,  Joe,"  returned 
the  woman  coolly.  "  Don't  drop  that  oil  upon  the 
blankets,  now." 

"  His  blankets  ?"  asked  Joe. 

"  Whose  else's  do  you  think  ?"  replied  the 
woman.  "  He  isn't  likely  to  take  cold  without 
'em,  I  dare  say." 

"  I   hope   he   didn't   die    of  anything    catching  ? 


THE    LAST    OF    THE    SPIRITS.  135 

Eh  ? "  said  old  Joe,  stopping  in  his  work,  and 
looking  up. 

"  Don't  you  be  afraid  of  that,"  returned  the 
woman.  "  I  an't  so  fond  of  his  company  that  I  'd 
loiter  about  him  for  such  things,  if  he  did.  Ah ! 
You  may  look  through  that  shirt  till  your  eyes 
ache  ;  but  you  won't  find  a  hole  in  it,  nor  a  thread- 
bare place.  It 's  the  best  he  had,  and  a  fine  one  too. 
They  'd  have  wasted  it,  if  it  hadn't  been  for  me." 

"  What  do  you  call  wasting  of  it  ?"  asked  old  Joe. 

"  Putting  it  on  him  to  be  buried  in,  to  be  sure," 
replied  the  woman  with  a  laugh.  "  Somebody  was 
fool  enough  to  do  it,  but  I  took  it  oS  again.  If  calico 
an't  good  enough  for  such  a  purpose,  it  isn't  good 
enough  for  anything.  It 's  quite  as  becoming  to  the 
body.     He  can't  look  uglier  than  he  did  in  that  one." 

Scrooge  listened  to  this  dialogue  in  horror.  As 
they  sat  grouped  about  their  spoil,  in  the  scanty 
light  afforded  by  the  old  man's  lamp,  he  viewed  them 
with  a  detestation  and  disgust,  which  could  hardly 
have  been  greater,  though  they  had  been  obscene 
demons,  marketing  the  corpse  itself. 


136  A    CHRISTMAS    CAROL. 

"  Ha,  ha !"  laughed  the  same  woman,  wlien  old 
Joe,  producing  a  flannel  hag  with  money  in  it,  told 
out  their  several  gains  upon  the  ground.  "  This  is 
the  end  of  it,  you  sec  !  He  frightened  every  one  away 
from  him  when  ho  was  alive,  to  profit  us  when  he 
was  dead  1     Ha,  ha,  ha  !" 

"  Spirit !"  said  Scrooge,  shuddering  from  head  to 
foot.  "  I  see,  I  see.  The  case  of  this  unhappy  man 
might  be  my  own.  My  life  tends  that  way,  now. 
Merciful  Heaven,  what  is  this  !" 

He  recoiled  in  terror,  for  the  scene  had  changed, 
and  now  he  almost  touched  a  bed  :  a  bare,  uncur- 
tained bed :  on  which,  beneath  a  ragged  sheet,  there 
lay  a  something  covered  up,  which,  though  it  was 
dumb,  announced  itself  in  awful  language. 

The  room  was  very  dark,  too  dark  to  be  observed 
with  any  accuracy,  though  Scrooge  glanced  round  it 
in  obedience  to  a  secret  impulse,  anxious  to  know 
what  kind  of  room  it  was.  A  pale  light,  rising  in 
the  outer  air,  fell  straight  upon  the  bed ;  and  on  it, 
plundered  and  bereft,  unwatched,  unwept,  uncared 
for,  was  the  body  of  this  man. 


THE    LAST    OF    THE    SPIRITS.  137 

Scrooge  glanced  towards  the  Phantom.  Its  steady 
hand  was  pointed  to  the  head.  The  cover  was  so 
carelessly  adjusted  that  the  slightest  raising  of  it, 
the  motion  of  a  finger  upon  Scrooge's  part,  would 
have  disclosed  the  face.  He  thought  of  it,  felt  how 
easy  it  would  be  to  do,  and  longed  to  do  it ;  but  had 
no  more  power  to  withdraw  the  veil  than  to  dismiss 
the  spectre  at  his  side. 

Oh  cold,  cold,  rigid,  dreadful  Death,  set  up  thine 
altar  here,  and  dress  it  with  such  terrors  as  thou 
hast  at  thy  command :  for  this  is  thy  dominion  ! 
But  of  the  loved,  revered,  and  honoured  head,  thou 
canst  not  turn  one  hair  to  thy  dread  purposes,  or 
make  one  feature  odious.  It  is  not  that  the  hand  is 
heavy  and  will  fall  down  when  released  ;  it  is  not 
that  the  heart  and  pulse  are  still ;  but  that  the  hand 
WAS  open,  generous,  and  true ;  the  heart  brave, 
warm,  and  tender  ;  and  the  pulse  a  man's.  Strike, 
Shadow,  strike  !  And  see  his  good  deeds  springing 
from  the  wound,  to  sow  the  world  with  life  im- 
mortal ! 

No  voice  pronounced   these   words  in    Scrooge's 


138  A    CHRISTMAS    CAROL. 

cars,  ami  yet  he  heard  them  when  he  looked  upon 
the  bed.  He  tliought,  if  tliis  man  could  be  raised  up 
now,  what  would  be  his  foremost  thoughts  ?  Ava- 
rice, hard  dealing,  griping  cares  ?  They  have  brought 
him- to  a  rich  end,  truly  ! 

He  lay,  in  the  dark  empty  house,  with  not  a  man, 
a  woman,  or  a  child,  to  say  he  was  kind  to  me  in 
this  or  that,  and  for  the  memory  of  one  kind  word 
I  will  be  kind  to  him.  A  cat  was  tearing  at  the 
door,  and  there  was  a  sound  of  gnawing  rats  beneath 
the  hearth-stone.  What  they  wanted  in  the  room  of 
death,  and  why  they  were  so  restless  and  disturbed, 
Scrooge  did  not  dare  to  think. 

"  Spirit !  "  he  said,  "  this  is  a  fearful  place.  In 
Jeaviug  it,  I  shall  not  leave  its  lesson,  trust  me. 
Let  us  go !  " 

Still  the  Ghost  pointed  with  an  unmoved  finger 
to  the  head. 

"  I  understand  you,"  Scrooge  returned,  "  and  I 
would  do  it,  if  I  could.  But  I  have  not  the  power, 
Spirit.     I  have  not  the  power." 

Again  it  seemed  to  look  upon  him. 


THE    LAST    OF    THE    SPIRITS.  139 

"  If  there  is  any  person  in  the  town,  who  feels 
emotion  caused  by  this  man's  death,"  said  Scrooge 
quite  agonized,  "  show  that  person  to  me,  Spirit,  I 
beseech  you ! " 

The  phantom  spread  its  dark  robe  before  him  for 
a  moment,  like  a  wing  ;  and  withdrawing  it,  revealed 
a  room  by  daylight,  where  a  mother  and  her  children 
were. 

She  was  expecting  some  one,  and  with  anxious 
eagerness ;  for  she  walked  up  and  down  the  room  ; 
started  at  every  sound  ;  looked  out  from  the  window ; 
glanced  at  the  clock ;  tried,  but  in  vain,  to  work 
with  her  needle ;  and  could  hardly  bear  the  voices  of 
the  children  in  their  play. 

At  length  the  long-expected  knock  was  heard. 
She  hurried  to  the  door,  and  met  her  husband;  a 
man  whose  face  was  care-worn  and  depressed, 
though  he  was  young.  There  was  a  remarkable  ex- 
pression in  it  now  ;  a  kind  of  serious  delight  of  which 
he  felt  ashamed,  and  which  he  struggled  to  repress. 

He  sat  down  to  the  dinner  that  had  been  hoarding 
for  him  by  the  fire ;  and  when  she  asked  him  faintly 


140  A    CHRISTMAS    CAROL. 

what  news  (which  was  not  until  after  a  long  silence), 
ho  appeared  embarrassed  how  to  answer. 

"  Is  it  good,"  she  said,  "  or  bad  ?  " — to  help  him. 

"  Bad,"  he  answered. 

"  We  are  quite  ruined  ?  " 

"  No.     There  is  hope  yet,  Caroline." 

"  If  he  relents,"  she  said,  amazed,  "  there  is  ! 
Nothing  is  past  hope,  if  such  a  miracle  has 
happened." 

"  He  is  past  relenting,"  said  her  husband.  "  He 
is  dead." 

She  was  a  mild  and  patient  creature  if  her  face 
spoke  truth;  but  she  was  thankful  in  her  soul  to  hear 
it,  and  she  said  so,  with  clasped  hands.  She  prayed 
forgiveness  the  next  moment,  and  was  sorry ;  but  the 
first  was  the  emotion  of  her  heart. 

"  What  the  half-drunken  woman  whom  I  told  you 
of  last  night,  said  to  me,  when  I  tried  to  see  him 
and  obtain  a  week's  delay  ;  and  what  I  thought  was 
a  mere  excuse  to  avoid  me ;  turns  out  to  have  been 
quite  true.  He  was  not  only  very  ill,  but  dying, 
then." 


THE    LAST    OF   THE   SPIRITS.  141 

"  To  whom  will  our  debt  be  transferred  ?  " 

"  I  don't  know.  But  before  that  time  we  shall 
be  ready  with  the  money ;  and  even  though  we  were 
not,  it  would  be  bad  fortune  indeed  to  find  so 
merciless  a  creditor  in  his  successor.  We  may  sleep 
to-night  with  light  hearts,  Caroline  !  " 

Yes.  Soften  it  as  they  would,  their  hearts  were 
lighter.  The  children's  faces,  hushed  and  clustered 
round  to  hear  what  they  so  little  understood,  were 
brighter;  and  it  was  a  happier  house  for  this 
man's  death  !  The  only  emotion  that  the  Ghost 
could  show  him,  caused  by  the  event,  was  one  of 
pleasure. 

"  Let  me  see  some  tenderness  connected  with  a 
death,"  said  Scrooge ;  "  or  that  dark  chamber, 
Spirit,  which  we  left  just  now,  will  be  for  ever 
present  to  me." 

The  Ghost  conducted  him  through  several  streets 
familiar  to  his  feet ;  and  as  they  went  along,  Scrooge 
looked  here  and  there  to  find  himself,  but  nowhere 
was  he  to  be  seen.  They  entered  poor  Bob  Cratchit's 
house ;  the    dwelling    he    had   visited  before ;    and 


142  A    CHRISTMAS    CAROL. 

found   the   mother  and  tlic  children  seated  round 
the  fire. 

Quiet.  Very  quiet.  The  noisy  little  Cratchits 
were  as  still  as  statues  in  one  corner,  and  sat  looking 
up  at  Peter,  who  had  a  book  before  him.  The  mother 
and  her  daughters  were  engaged  in  sewing.  But 
surely  they  were  very  quiet ! 

'' '  And  He  took  a  child,  and  set  him  in  the  midst 
of  them.' " 

Where  had  Scrooge  heard  those  words  ?  He  had 
not  dreamed  them.  The  boy  must  have  read  them 
out,  as  he  and  the  Spirit  crossed  the  threshold. 
Why  did  he  not  go  on  ? 

The  mother  laid  her  work  upon  the  table,  and  put 
her  hand  up  to  her  face. 

"  The  colour  hurts  my  eyes,"  she  said. 

The  colour  ?     Ah,  poor  Tiny  Tim  ! 

"  They  're  better  now  again,"  said  Cratchit's  wife. 
"  It  makes  them  weak  by  candle-light ;  and  I 
wouldn't  show  weak  eyes  to  your  father  when  he 
comes  home,  for  the  world  It  must  be  near  his 
time." 


THE    LAST    OF    THE   SPIRITS.  143 

"  Past  it  rather,"  Peter  answered,  shutting  up  his 
book.  "  But  I  think  he  has  walked  a  little  slower 
than  he  used,  these  few  last  evenings,  mother." 

They  were  very  quiet  again.  At  last  she  said, 
and  in  a  steady  cheerful  voice,  that  only  faultered 
once : 

"  I  have  known  him  walk  with — I  have  known 
him  walk  with  Tiny  Tim  upon  his  shoulder,  very 
fast  indeed." 

"  And  so  have  I,"  cried  Peter.    "  Often." 

"  And  so  have  I !"  exclaimed  another.  So  had 
all. 

"  But  he  was  very  light  to  carry,"  she  resumed, 
intent  upon  her  work,  "  and  his  father  loved  him 
so,  that  it  was  no  trouble  :  no  trouble.  And  there 
is  your  father  at  the  door !  " 

She  hurried  out  to  meet  him  ;  and  little  Bob  in 
his  comforter — he  had  need  of  it,  poor  fellow — came 
in.  His  tea  was  ready  for  him  on  the  hob,  and 
they  all  tried  who  should  help  him  to  it  most. 
Then  the  two  young  Cratchits  got  upon  his  knees 
and  laid,  each  child  a  little  cheek,  against  his  face, 


144  A    CHRISTMAS    CAROL. 

as  if  they  said,  "  Don't  mind  it,  father.  Don't  be 
grieved ! " 

Bob  was  very  cheerful  with  them,  and  spoke 
pleasantly  to  all  the  family.  He  looked  at  the  work 
upon  the  table,  and  praised  the  industry  and  speed 
of  Mrs.  Cratchit  and  the  girls.  They  would  be 
done  long  before  Sunday  he  said. 

"  Sunday  1  You  went  to-day  then,  Robert  ? " 
said  his  wife. 

"  Yes,  my  dear,"  returned  Bob.  "  I  wish  you 
could  have  gone.  It  would  have  done  you  good  to 
see  how  green  a  place  it  is.  But  you'll  see  it 
often.  I  promised  him  that  I  would  walk  there  on 
a  Sunday.  My  little,  little  child ! "  cried  Bob. 
«  My  little  child ! " 

He  broke  down  all  at  once.  He  couldn't  help 
it.  If  he  could  have  helped  it,  he  and  his  child 
would  have  been  farther  apart  perhaps  than  they 
were. 

He  left  the  room,  and  went  up  stairs  into  the 
room  above,  which  was  lighted  cheerfully,  and 
hung  with  Christmas.     There  was  a  chair  set  close 


THE    LAST    OF    THE    SPIRITS.  145 

beside  the  child,  and  there  were  signs  of  some  one 
having  been  there,  lately.  Poor  Bob  sat  down  in 
it,  and  when  he  had  thought  a  little  and  composed 
himself,  he  kissed  the  little  face.  He  was  reconciled 
to  wliat  had  happened,  and  went  down  again  quite 
happy. 

They  drew  about  the  fire,  and  talked ;  the  girls 
and  mother  working  still.  Bob  told  them  of  the 
extraordinary  kindness  of  Mr.  Scrooge's  nephew, 
whom  he  had  scarcely  seen  but  once,  and  who, 
meeting  him  in  the  street  that  day,  and  seeing  that 
he  looked  a  little — "  just  a  little  down  you  know" 
said  Bob,  enquired  what  had  happened  to  distress 
him.  "  On  which,"  said  Bob,  "  for  he  is  the 
pleasantest-spoken  gentleman  you  ever  heard,  I 
told  him.  '  I  am  heartily  sorry  for  it,  Mr.  Cratchit,' 
he  said,  '  and  heartily  sorry  for  your  good  wife.' 
By  the  bye,  how  he  ever  knew  t/iat,  I  don't  know." 

"  Knew  what,  my  dear?" 

"  Wliy,  that  you  were  a  good  wife,"  replied  Bob. 

"  Everybody  knows  that  I"  said  Peter. 

"  Very  well  observed,  my  boy!"  cried  Bob.    "I 


146  A    CHRISTMAS    CAROL. 

hope  they  do.  *  Heartily  sorry,'  he  said,  '  for  your 
good  wife.  If  I  can  be  of  service  to  you  in  any 
way,*  he  said,  giving  me  his  card,  '  that's  where  I 
live.  Pray  come  to  me.'  Now,  it  wasn't,"  cried 
Bob,  "  for  the  sake  of  anything  he  might  be  able  to 
do  for  U3,  so  much  as  for  his  kind  way,  that  this 
was  quite  delightful.  It  really  seemed  as  if  he  had 
known  our  Tiny  Tim,  and  felt  with  us." 

"I'm  sure  he's  a  good  soul!"  said  Mrs.  Crat- 
chit. 

"  You  would  be  surer  of  it,  my  dear,"  returned 
Bob,  "  if  you  saw  and  spoke  to  him.  I  shouldn't 
be  at  all  surprised,  mark  what  I  say,  if  he  got  Peter 
a  better  situation." 

"  Only  hear  that,  Peter,"  said  Mrs.  Cratchit, 

"  And  then,"  cried  one  of  the  girls,  "  Peter  will 
be  keeping  company  with  some  one,  and  setting  up 
for  himself." 

"  Get  along  with  you  !  "  retorted  Peter,  grinning. 

"  It 's  just  as  likely  as  not,"  said  Bob,  "  one  of 
these  days  ;  though  there  's  plenty  of  time  for  that, 
my  dear.      But   however   and  whenever   we   part 


THE    LAST    OF    THE    SPIRITS.  147 

from  one  another,  I  am  sure  we  shall  none  of  us 
forget  poor  Tiny  Tim — shall  we — or  this  first  part- 
ing that  there  was  among  us  ?  " 

"  Never,  father ! "  cried  they  all. 

"  And  I  know,"  said  Bob,  "  I  know,  my  dears, 
that  when  we  recollect  how  patient  and  how  mild 
he  was ;  although  he  was  a  little,  little  child ;  we 
shall  not  quarrel  easily  among  ourselves,  and  forget 
poor  Tiny  Tim  in  doing  it." 

"  No,  never,  father  !  "  they  all  cried  again. 

"  I  am  very  happy,"  said  little  Bob,  "  I  am  very 
happy  1 " 

Mrs.  Cratchit  kissed  him,  his  daughters  kissed 
him,  the  two  young  Cratchits  kissed  him,  and  Peter 
and  himself  shook  hands.  Spirit  of  Tiny  Tim,  thy 
childish  essence  was  from  God ! 

"  Spectre,"  said  Scrooge,  "  something  informs  me 
that  our  parting  moment  is  at  hand.  I  know  it, 
but  I  know  not  how.  Tell  me  what  man  that  was 
whom  we  saw  lying  dead  ?  " 

The  Ghost  of  Christmas  Yet  To  Come  conveyed 
him,    as   before— though    at   a  different    time,    he 

L  2 


148  A    CHRISTMAS    CAROL. 

thought :  indeed,  there  seemed  no  order  in  these 
latter  visions,  save  that  they  were  in  the  Future — 
into  the  resorts  of  business  men,  but  showed  him 
not  himself.  Indeed,  the  Spirit  did  not  stay  for 
anything,  but  went  straight  on,  as  to  the  end  just 
now  desired,  until  besought  by  Scrooge  to  tarry  for 
a  moment. 

"  This  court,"  said  Scrooge,  "  through  which  we 
hurry  now,  is  where  my  place  of  occupation  is,  and 
lias  been  for  a  length  of  time.  I  see  the  house. 
Let  me  behold  what  I  shall  be,  in  days  to  come." 

The  Spirit  stopped ;  the  hand  was  pointed  else- 
where. 

"  The  house  is  yonder,"  Scrooge  exclaimed. 
"  Why  do  you  point  away  ?  " 

The  inexorable  finger  underwent  no  change. 

Scrooge  hastened  to  the  window  of  his  office,  and 
looked  in.  It  was  an  office  still,  but  not  his.  The 
furniture  was  not  the  same,  and  the  figure  in  the 
chair  was  not  himself.  The  Phantom  pointed  as 
before. 

He  joined  it  once  again,  and  wondering  why  and 


THE    LAST    OF    THE    SPIRITS.  149 

whither  he  had  gone,  accompanied  it  until  they 
reached  an  iron  gate.  He  paused  to  look  round 
before  entering. 

A  churchyard.  Here,  then,  the  wretched  man 
whose  name  he  had  now  to  learn,  lay  underneath 
the  ground.  It  was  a  worthy  place.  Walled  in  by 
houses ;  overrun  by  grass  and  weeds,  the  growth  of 
vegetation's  death,  not  life ;  choked  up  with  too 
much  burying ;  fat  with  repleted  appetite.  A 
worthy  place  ! 

The  Spirit  stood  among  the  graves,  and  pointed 
down  to  One.  He  advanced  towards  it  trembling. 
The  Phantom  was  exactly  as  it  had  been,  but  he 
dreaded  that  he  saw  new  meaning  in  its  solemn 
shape. 

"  Before  I  draw  nearer  to  that  stone  to  which 
you  point,"  said  Scrooge,  "  answer  me  one  question. 
Are  these  the  shadows  of  the  things  that  Will  be, 
or  are  they  shadows  of  the  things  that  May  be, 
only  ?  " 

Still  the  Ghost  pointed  downward  to  the  grave 
by  which  it  stood. 


150  A    CHRISTMAS    CAROL, 

"Men's  courses  will  foreshadow  certain  ends,  to 
which,  if  persevered  in,  they  must  lead,"  said 
Scrooge.  "  But  if  the  courses  be  departed  from, 
the  ends  will  change.  Say  it  is  thus  with  what 
you  show  me!" 

The  Spirit  was  immovable  as  ever. 

Scrooge  crept  towards  it,  trembling  as  he  went ; 
and  following  the  finger,  read  upon  the  stone  of  the 
neglected  grave  his  own  name,  Ebenezer  Scrooge. 

"Am  /  that  man  who  lay  upon  the  bed?"  he 
cried,  upon  his  knees. 

The  finger  pointed  from  the  grave  to  him,  and 
back  again. 

"  No,  Spirit !     Oh  no,  no  !" 

The  finger  still  was  there. 

"Spirit!"  he  cried,  tight  clutching  at  its  robe, 
"  hear  me !  I  am  not  the  man  I  was.  I  will  not 
be  the  man  I  must  have  been  but  for  this  inter- 
course.   Why  show  me  this,  if  I  am  past  all  hope  ?" 

For  the  first  time  the  hand  appeared  to  shake. 

"  Good  Spirit,"  he  pursued,  as  down  upon  the 
ground  he  fell  before  it :   "  Your  nature  intercedes 


c_^^^<^=j2^^^^7/S^:$^J::^^,^^2:£^ 


^. 


Lcniaru:  Chapmjm.  £■  Sail,  IS 6,  Strand. 


THE    LAST    OP    THE    SPIRITS.  151 

for  me,  and  pities  me.  Assure  me  that  I  yet  may- 
change  these  shadows  you  have  shown  me,  by  an 
altered  life ! " 

The  kind  hand  trembled' 

"  I  will  honour  Christmas  in  my  heart,  and  try 
to  keep  it  all  the  year.  I  will  live  in  the  Past,  the 
Present,  and  the  Future.  The  Spirits  of  all  Three 
shall  strive  within  me.  I  will  not  shut  out  the 
lessons  that  they  teach.  Oh,  tell  me  I  may  sponge 
away  the  writing  on  this  stone  !  " 

In  his  agony,  he  caught  the  spectral  hand.  It 
sought  to  free  itself,  but  he  was  strong  in  his  en- 
treaty, and  detained  it.  The  Spirit,  stronger  yet, 
repulsed  him. 

Holding  up  his  hands  in  one  last  prayer  to  have 
his  fate  reversed,  he  saw  an  alteration  in  the  Phan- 
tom's hood  and  dress.  It  shrunk,  collapsed,  and 
dwindled  down  into  a  bedpost. 


STAVE   FIVE. 


THE  END  OF  IT. 

Yes!  and  the  bedpost  was  his  own.  The  bed 
was  his  own,  the  room  was  his  own.  Best  and 
happiest  of  all,  the  Time  before  him  was  his  own, 
to  make  amends  in  ! 

"  I  will  live  in  the  Past,  the  Present,  and  the 
Future !  "  Scrooge  repeated,  as  he  scrambled  out  of 
bed.  "  The  Spirits  of  all  Three  shall  strive  within 
me.  Oh  Jacob  Marley !  Heaven,  and  the  Christmas 
Time  be  praised  for  this !  I  say  it  on  my  knees, 
old  Jacob  ;  on  my  knees  ! " 

He  was  so  fluttered  and  so  glowing  with  his  good 
intentions,  that  his  broken  voice  would  scarcely 
answer  to  his  call.  He  had  been  sobbing  violently 
in  his  conflict  with  the  Spirit,  and  his  face  was  wet 
with  tears. 


THE    END    OF    IT.  153 

"  They  are  not  torn  down,"  cried  Scrooge,  folding 
one  of  his  bed-curtains  in  his  arms,  "  they  are  not 
torn  down,  rings  and  all.  They  are  here:  I  am 
here :  the  shadows  of  the  things  that  would  have 
been,  may  be  dispelled.  They  will  be.  I  know 
they  will ! " 

His  hands  were  busy  with  his  garments  all  this 
time :  turning  them  inside  out,  putting  them  on 
upside  down,  tearing  them,  mislaying  them,  making 
them  parties  to  every  kind  of  extravagance. 

"  I  don't  know  what  to  do ! "  cried  Scrooge, 
laughing  and  crying  in  the  same  breath ;  and  making 
a  perfect  Laocoon  of  himself  with  his  stockings.  "  I 
am  as  light  as  a  feather,  I  am  as  happy  as  an  angel, 
I  am  as  merry  as  a  school-boy.  I  am  as  giddy 
as  a  drunken  man.  A  merry  Christmas  to  every- 
body !  A  happy  New  Year  to  all  the  world.  Hallo 
here!   Whoop!  Hallo!" 

He  had  frisked  into  the  sitting-room,  and  was 
now  standing  there  :  perfectly  winded. 

"  There  's  the  saucepan  that  the  gruel  was  in  ! " 
cried  Scrooge,  starting  off  again,  and  going  round 


154  ^    CHRISTMAS    CAROL. 

the  fire-place.  "  There 's  the  door,  by  which  the 
Ghost  of  Jacob  Marley  entered  !  There 's  the  corner 
where  the  Ghost  of  Christmas  Present,  sat !  There 's 
the  window  where  I  saw  the  wandering  Spirits! 
It's  all  right,  it's  all  true,  it  all  happened.  Ha 
ha  ha ! " 

Really,  for  a  man  who  had  been  out  of  practice 
for  so  many  years,  it  was  a  splendid  laugh,  a  most 
illustrious  laugh.  The  father  of  a  long,  long,  line 
of  brilliant  laughs ! 

"  I  don't  know  what  day  of  the  month  it  is ! " 
said  Scrooge.  "  I  don't  know  how  long  I've  been 
among  the  Spirits.  I  don't  know  anything.  I'm 
quite  a  baby.  Never  mind.  I  don't  care.  I  'd 
rather  be  a  baby.    Hallo !    Whoop  !    Hallo  here  !" 

He  was  checked  in  his  transports  by  the  churches 
ringing  out  the  lustiest  peals  he  had  ever  heard. 
Clash,  clang,  hammer,  ding,  dong,  bell.  Bell,  dong, 
ding,  hammer,  clang,  clash !  Oh,  glorious,  glo- 
rious ! 

Running  to  the  window,  he  opened  it,  and  put 
out  his  head.     No  fog,  no  mist ;  clear,  bright,  jovial, 


THE    END    OF    IT.  155 

stirring,  cold  ;  cold,  piping  for  the  blood  to  dance 
to ;  Golden  sunlight ;  Heavenly  sky ;  sweet  fresh 
air  ;  merry  bells.     Oh,  glorious.     Glorious ! 

"  What's  to-day  ? "  cried  Scrooge,  calling  down- 
ward to  a  boy  in  Sunday  clothes,  who  perhaps  had 
loitered  in  to  look  about  him. 

"Eh?"  returned  the  boy,  with  all  his  might 
of  wonder. 

"  What 's  to-day,  my  fine  fellow  ?  "  said  Scrooge. 

"  To-day  !  "  replied  the  boy.  "  Why,  Christ- 
mas Day." 

"  It 's  Christmas  Day  !"  said  Scrooge  to  himself. 
"  I  haven't  missed  it.  The  Spirits  have  done  it 
all  in  one  night.  They  can  do  anything  they  like. 
Of  course  they  can.  Of  course  they  can.  Hallo, 
my  fine  fellow  ! " 

"  Hallo  ! "  returned  the  boy. 

"  Do  you  know  the  Poulterer's,  in  the  next 
street  but  one,  at  the  corner  ?  "  Scrooge  inquired. 

"  I  should  hope  I  did,"  replied  the  lad. 

"  An  intelligent  boy  !  "  said  Scrooge.  "  A  re- 
markable boy  !      Do  you  know  whether  they  've 


156  A    CHRISTMAS    CAROL. 

sold  the  prize  Turkey  that  was  hanging  up  there  ? 
Not  tlie  little  prize  Turkey  :   the  big  one  ?  " 

"  What,  the  one  as  big  as  me  ? "  returned  the 
boy. 

*'  "What  a  delightful  boy  !  "  said  Scrooge.  "  It 's 
a  pleasure  to  talk  to  him.     Yes,  my  buck  !" 

"  It 's  hanging  there  now,"  replied  the  boy. 

"  Is  it  ?  "  said  Scrooge.     "  Go  and  buy  it." 

"  Walk-EU  !  "  exclaimed  the  boy. 

"  No,  no,"  said  Scrooge,  "  I  am  in  earnest.  Go 
and  buy  it,  and  tell  'em  to  bring  it  here,  that  I  may 
give  them  the  direction  where  to  take  it.  Come  back 
with  the  man,  and  I  '11  give  you  a  shilling.  Come 
back  with  him  in  less  than  five  minutes,  and  I  '11 
give  you  half-a- crown  !  " 

The  boy  was  off  like  a  shot.  He  must  have 
had  a  steady  hand  at  a  trigger  who  could  have 
got  a  shot  off  half  so  fast. 

"  I  '11  send  it  to  Bob  Cratchit's  !  "  whispered 
Scrooge,  rubbing  his  hands,  and  splitting  with  a 
laugh.  "He  sha'n't  know  who  sends  it.  It's 
twice   the  size  of   Tiny   Tim.     Joe    Miller   never 


THE    END    OF    IT.  157 

made  such  a  joke  as  sending  it  to  Bob's  will 
be ! " 

The  hand  in  which  he  wrote  the  address  was  not  a 
steady  one,  but  write  it  he  did,  somehow,  and  went 
down  stairs  to  open  the  street  door,  ready  for  the 
coming  of  the  poulterer's  man.  As  he  stood  there, 
waiting  his  arrival,  the  knocker  caught  his  eye. 

"  I  shall  love  it,  as  long  as  I  live !"  cried  Scrooge, 
patting  it  with  his  hand.  "  I  scarcely  ever  looked 
at  it  before.  What  an  honest  expression  it  has  in 
its  face  !  It 's  a  wonderful  knocker  !^-Here  's  the 
Turkey.  Hallo  !  Whoop  !  How  are  you  !  Merry 
Christmas  !" 

It  was  a  Turkey  !  He  never  could  have  stood 
upon  his  legs,  that  bird.  He  would  have  snapped 
'em  short  off  in  a  minute,  like  sticks  of  sealing-wax. 

"  Why,  it 's  impossible  to  carry  that  to  Camden 
Town,"  said  Scrooge.    "  You  must  have  a  cab." 

The  chuckle  with  which  he  said  this,  and  the 
chuckle  with  which  he  paid  for  the  Turkey,  and  the 
chuckle  with  which  he  paid  for  the  cab,  and  the 
chuckle  with  which  he  recompensed  the  boy,  were 


168  A    CHRISTMAS    CAKOL. 

only  to  be  exceeded  by  the  chuckle  with  which  he 
sat  down  breathless  in  his  chair  again,  and  chuckled 
till  he  cried. 

Shaving  was  not  an  easy  task,  for  his  hand  con- 
tinued to  shake  very  much  ;  and  shaving  requires 
attention,  even  when  you  don't  dance  while  you  are 
at  it.  But  if  he  had  cut  the  end  of  his  nose  off,  he 
would  have  put  a  piece  of  sticking-plaister  over  it, 
and  been  quite  satisfied. 

He  dressed  himself  "  all  in  his  best,"  and  at  last 
got  out  into  the  streets.  The  people  were  by  this 
time  pouring  forth,  as  he  had  seen  them  with  the 
Ghost  of  Christmas  Present ;  and  walking  with  his 
hands  behind  him,  Scrooge  regarded  every  one  with 
a  delighted  smile.  He  looked  so  irresistibly  pleasant, 
in  a  word,  that  three  or  four  good-humoured  fellows 
said,  "  Good  morning,  sir  !  A  merry  Christmas  to 
you !"  And  Scrooge  said  often  afterwards,  that  of 
all  the  blithe  sounds  he  had  ever  heard,  those  were 
the  blithest  in  his  ears. 

He  had  not  gone  far,  when  coming  on  towards 
him  he  beheld  the  portly  gentleman,  who  had  walked 


THE    END    OF    IT.  159 

into  his  counting-house  the  day  before  and  said, 
"  Scrooge  and  Marley's,  I  believe  ?"  It  sent  a  pang 
across  his  heart  to  think  how  this  old  gentleman 
would  look  upon  him  when  they  met ;  but  he  knew 
what  path  lay  straight  before  him,  and  he  took  it. 

"  My  dear  sir,"  said  Scrooge,  quickening  his  pace, 
and  taking  the  old  gentleman  by  both  his  hands. 
''  How  do  you  do  ?  I  hope  you  succeeded  yesterday. 
It  was  very  kind  of  you.  A  merry  Christmas  to 
you,  sir!" 

"  Mr.  Scrooge  ?" 

"  Yes,"  said  Scrooge.  "  That  is  my  name,  and  I 
fear  it  may  not  be  pleasant  to  you.  Allow  me  to 
ask  your  pardon.  And  will  you  have  the  goodness" — 
here  Scrooge  whispered  in  his  ear. 

"  Lord  bless  me  !"  cried  the  gentleman,  as  if  his 
breath  were  gone.  "  My  dear  Mr.  Scrooge,  are  you 
serious  V 

'-  If  you  please,"  said  Scrooge.     "  Not  a  farthing 
less.     A  great  many  back-payments  are  included  in 
it,  I  assure  you.     Will  you  do  me  that  favour  ?  " 
"  My   dear   sir,"   said  the  other,  shaking  hands 


160  A    CHRISTMAS   CAROL. 

with  him.  "  I  don't  know  what  to  say  to  such 
munifi — '' 

"  Don't  say  anything,  please,"  retorted  Scrooge, 
"  Come  and  see  me.     Will  you  come  and  see  me  ? " 

"  I  will !  "  cried  the  old  gentleman.  And  it  was 
clear  he  meant  to  do  it. 

"  Thank  'ee,"  said  Scrooge.  •'  I  am  much  obliged 
to  you.     I  thank  you  fifty  times.     Bless  you  !  " 

He  went  to  church,  and  walked  about  the  streets, 
and  watched  the  people  hurrying  to  and  fro,  and 
patted  children  on  the  head,  and  questioned  beggars, 
and  looked  down  into  the  kitchens  of  houses,  and  up 
to  the  windows ;  and  found  that  everything  could 
yield  him  pleasure.  He  had  never  dreamed  that  any 
walk — that  anything — could  give  him  so  much 
happiness.  In  the  afternoon,  he  turned  his  steps 
towards  his  nephew's  house. 

He  passed  the  door  a  dozen  times,  before  he  had 
the  courage  to  go  up  and  knock.  But  he  made  a 
dash,  and  did  it : 

"  Is  your  master  at  home,  my  dear?  "  said  Scrooge 
to  the  girl.     Nice  girl !     Very. 


THE    END    OF    IT.  161 

"  Yes,  sir." 

"  Where  is  he,  my  love  ?"  said  Scrooge. 
"  He  's  in  the  dining-room,  sir,  along  with  mistress. 
I  '11  show  you  up  stairs,  if  you  please." 

"  Thank  'ee.  He  knows  me,"  said  Scrooge,  with 
his  hand  already  on  the  dining-room  lock.  "  I  '11 
go  in  here,  my  dear." 

He  turned  it  gently,  and  sidled  his  face  in,  round 
the  door.  They  were  looking  at  the  table  (which 
was  spread  out  in  great  array)  ;  for  these  young 
housekeepers  are  always  nervous  on  such  points,  and 
like  to  see  that  everything  is  right. 
"  Fred ! "  said  Scrooge. 

Dear  heart  alive,  how  his  niece  by  marriage 
started  !  Scrooge  had  forgotten,  for  the  moment, 
about  her  sitting  in  the  corner  with  the  footstool,  or 
he  wouldn't  have  done  it,  on  any  account. 

"  Why  bless  my  soul ! "  cried  Fred,  "  who's 
that  ?  " 

"  It 's  I.  Your  uncle  Scrooge.  I  have  come  to 
dinner.     Will  you  let  me  in,  Fred  ?  " 

Let  him  in  !      It  is  a  mercy  he  didn't  shake  his 

M 


162  A    CHRISTMAS   CAROL. 

arm  off.  lie  was  at  home  in  five  minutes.  Nothing 
could  be  heartier.  His  niece  looked  just  the  same. 
So  did  Topper  when  he  came.  So  did  the  plump 
sister,  when  she  came.  So  did  every  one  wlien  they 
came.  Wonderful  party,  wonderful  games,  wonder- 
ful unanimity,  won-der-ful  happiness! 

But  he  was  early  at  the  office  next  morning.  Oh 
he  was  early  there.  If  he  could  only  be  there 
first,  and  catch  Bob  Cratchit  coming  late !  That 
was  the  thing  he  had  set  his  heart  upon. 

And  he  did  it ;  yes  he  did  !  The  clock  struck 
nine.  No  Bob.  A  quarter  past.  No  Bob.  He 
was  full  eighteen  minutes  and  a  half,  behind  his 
time.  Scrooge  sat  with  his  door  wide  open,  that 
he  might  see  him  come  into  the  Tank. 

His  hat  was  off,  before  he  opened  the  door ;  his 
comforter  too.  He  was  on  his  stool  in  a  jiffy; 
driving  away  with  his  pen,  as  if  he  were  trying  to 
overtake  nine  o'clock. 

"  Hallo  ! "  growled  Scrooge,  in  his  accustomed 
voice  as  near  as  he  could  feign  it.  "  What  do  you 
mean  by  coming  here  at  this  time  of  day  ?  " 


THE    END    OF    IT.  163 

"  I  am  very  sorry,  sir,"  said  Bob.  "  I  am  behind 
my  time." 

"  You  are  ? "  repeated  Scrooge.  "  Yes.  I  think 
you  are.     Step  this  way,  if  you  please," 

"  It's  only  once  a  year,  sir,"  pleaded  Bob,  ap- 
pearing from  the  Tank.  "  It  shall  not  be  repeated. 
I  was  making  rather  merry  yesterday,  sir." 

"  Now,  I  '11  tell  you  what,  my  friend,"  said 
Scrooge,  "  I  am  not  going  to  stand  this  sort  of 
thing  any  longer.  And  therefore,"  he  continued, 
leaping  from  his  stool,  and  giving  Bob  such  a  dig 
in  the  waistcoat  that  he  staggered  back  into  the 
Tank  again :  "  and  therefore  I  am  about  to  raise 
your  salary  ! " 

Bob  trembled,  and  got  a  little  nearer  to  the  ruler. 
He  had  a  momentary  idea  of  knocking  Scrooge 
down  with  it ;  holding  him ;  and  calling  to  the 
people  in  the  court  for  help  and  a  strait- waistcoat. 

"  A  merry  Christmas,  Bob  ! "  said  Scrooge,  with 
an  earnestness  that  could  not  be  mistaken,  as  he 
clapped  him  on  the  back.     "  A  merrier  Christmas, 


164  A    fllRISTMAS    CAROL. 

Bob,  my  good  fellow,  than  I  have  given  you,  for 
many  a  year  !  I  '11  raise  your  salary,  and  endeavour 
to  assist  your  struggling  family,  and  we  will  discuss 
your  affairs  this  very  afternoon,  over  a  Christmas 
bowl  of  smoking  bishop,  Bob  ! 


THE    END    OF    IT.  1  65 

Make    up   the  fires,   and   buy  another    coal-scuttle 
before  you  dot  another  i,  Bob  Cratchit !  " 

Scrooge  was  better  than  his  word.  He  did  it 
all,  and  infinitely  more ;  and  to  Tiny  Tim,  who  did 
NOT  die,  he  was  a  second  father.  He  became  as  good 
a  friend,  as  good  a  master,  and  as  good  a  man,  as 
the  good  old  city  knew,  or  any  other  good  old 
city,  town,  or  borough,  in  the  good  old  world. 
Some  people  laughed  to  see  the  alteration  in  him, 
but  he  let  them  laugh,  and  little  heeded  them  ;  for 
he  was  wise  enough  to  know  tliat  nothing  ever 
happened  on  this  globe,  for  good,  at  which  some 
people  did  not  have  their  fill  of  laughter  in  the 
outset ;  and  knowing  that  such  as  these  would  be 
blind  anyway,  he  thought  it  quite  as  well  that  they 
should  wrinkle  up  their  eyes  in  grins,  as  have 
the  malady  in  less  attractive  forms.  His  own 
heart  laughed :  and  that  was  quite  enough  for 
him. 

He  had  no  further  intercourse  with  Spirits,  but 


166  A    CHRISTMAS    CAROL. 

lived  upon  the  Total  Abstinence  Principle,  ever  after- 
wards ;  and  it  was  always  said  of  him,  that  he 
knew  how  to  keep  Christmas  well,  if  any  man  alive 
possessed  the  knowledge.  May  that  be  truly  said 
of  us,  and  all  of  us !  And  so,  as  Tiny  Tim  ob- 
served, God  Bless  Us,  Every  One  ! 


THE   END. 


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FORTY-TWO  ILLUSTRATIONS  BY  GEORGE  CRUIKSHANK. 


In  one  volume  8vo,  price  11.  Is.  cloth, 

NICHOLAS    NICKLEBY. 

WITH 

FORTY  ILLUSTRATIONS,  BY'  "PHIZ" 


PK  40D(   .Al  lU4Ja 

SMC 

Dickens,  Charles, 

1812-1870. 
A  Christmas  carol  :  in 

prose;  being  a  ghost 
AKY-7708  (awsk) 


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